University Bulletin (2024-2025)

• Minor
• Major (BA)
• Combined BA/MA
• Master of Arts
• Doctor of Philosophy

The Department of Near Eastern and Judaic Studies (NEJS) is home to a strong and diverse international faculty who research the Bible and Ancient Middle East, early and late antique Christianity, Arabic and Medieval Islamic Civilizations, and the study of Jewish history and culture through the ages, including the study of Israel. Our classes are taught on many levels, in disciplines including textual and literary studies, history, social sciences, legal studies, philosophy, religion, and the arts. In addition to ancient and medieval languages, the department offers courses in three modern languages and their literatures: Arabic, Hebrew, and Yiddish. More information is found elsewhere in the Bulletin under each language name.

Undergraduate Major

Undergraduate students are welcome to study in the department as majors, as minors, or simply to take individual courses. NEJS graduates go on to the full range of programs and careers in law, health care, business, politics, writing, and the arts. Some NEJS grads build on their outstanding undergraduate education to continue their academic pursuits in doctoral programs. Others pursue Brandeis MA degrees such as the five-year NEJS MA or the Hornstein Jewish Leadership Program.

The undergraduate major in Near Eastern and Judaic Studies, divided into five tracks (see below), is designed to combine a broad education in the various disciplines and periods that constitute this field, with a degree of specialization in one specific area. Majors are strongly encouraged to diversify their courses within the department and to consider related courses in other departments in order to acquaint themselves with the different disciplines and approaches that Near Eastern and Judaic Studies embraces.

Graduate Program in Near Eastern and Judaic Studies

The graduate program in Near Eastern and Judaic Studies encompasses the PhD Program, leading to the Doctor of Philosophy degree, and several MA programs, leading to the Master of Arts degree. The PhD program is designed to train scholars and teachers in various areas of Near Eastern and Judaic Studies. The department's faculty offer strengths in the Hebrew Bible and the Ancient Middle East, Ancient and Medieval Jewish, Christian, and Islamic Studies, and Jewish history and culture through the ages, including the study of Israel.

On the MA level, the department offers general and specialized programs: a one-to-two year MA in Near Eastern and Judaic Studies; a two-year dual degree program leading to the MA in Hornstein Jewish Professional Leadership and the MA in Near Eastern and Judaic Studies; a two-year joint MA program in Near Eastern and Judaic Studies and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies; and as well as a joint MA in the Department of Near Eastern and Judaic Studies (within the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences) and the Graduate Program in Conflict Resolution and Coexistence (within the Heller School for Social Policy and Management). 

In addition, two 5-year BA/MA programs are available to undergraduate majors in the department: a BA/MA in Near Eastern and Judaic Studies and a BA/MA in Hornstein Jewish Professional Leadership.  

Undergraduate Major

The learning goals of the Near Eastern and Judaic Studies Department encompass the three categories stressed in Brandeis University's general learning goals: knowledge, core skills, and social justice. This statement of the learning goals of NEJS reflects our conviction that knowledge, values, and skills are often interconnected in the university and in the lifelong learning process as well--indeed that articulating skills and social justice as they are embedded in knowledge acquisition is, for us, the most useful and concrete way of formulating our objectives.

Knowledge

1. Students will understand the development of concepts and practices of the religious traditions currently taught in the department: ancient Near Eastern religions, Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
2. Students will be familiar with and recognize scholarly conventions and contemporary knowledge concerning Near Eastern or Judaic Studies to critically assess claims in the academic literature of those fields and in the popular media.
3. By reading texts in their original languages, students will appreciate ways in which language shapes and is shaped by the people and cultures they study.

Core Skills

1. Students will be able to synthesize, as well as articulate orally and in writing, a cogent narrative about the history, religions, cultures, and societies of the Near East or those that developed from the Near East, including the Jewish experience generally.
2. Students will be able to frame questions, investigate problems, and evaluate conclusions using one or more academic disciplines or approaches (e.g., literary and artistic criticism, philology, historical analysis, social scientific analysis, women’s and gender studies, and religious studies).
3. Students will be able to situate texts, documents, traditions, ideas, artistic productions, and other data in their contexts and assess their meaning in the light of those contexts.

Social Justice

1. Students will learn to appreciate diversity in and between religious and cultural traditions and thus contribute to greater understanding in the service of a more peaceful and just society.

Graduate Programs in Near Eastern and Judaic Studies

Please note that all joint or dual programs with NEJS have the same learning goals

MA in Near Eastern and Judaic Studies

Knowledge

1. Acquire a broad familiarity with the central historical and conceptual questions in the field of Near Eastern and Judaic Studies.
2. Understand the principal tenets and religious practices of one or more of the religious traditions currently taught in the department: ancient Near Eastern religions, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.
3. Understand how scholars employ diverse sources and methodologies to study the past or contemporary issues.

Core Skills

1. Demonstrate proficiency in one research language (Hebrew, Arabic, Yiddish).
2. Develop analytical skills to synthesize, contextualize, and evaluate scholarly arguments using one or more disciplinary approaches (i.e., literary criticism, philology, etc.).
3. Develop the ability to situate primary texts, documents, traditions, ideas, artistic productions, and other data in their contexts and assess their meaning.

Social Justice

1. Learn to appreciate diversity in religious and cultural traditions and contribute to greater understanding in the service of a more peaceful and just society.

For additional Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies learning goals for the joint MA, visit the WGS program Bulletin.

PhD in Near Eastern and Judaic Studies

Knowledge

1. Acquire a broad familiarity with the central historical and conceptual questions in the field of Near Eastern and Judaic Studies.
2. Understand the principal tenets, religious practices, and historical developments of one or more of the religious traditions currently taught in the department: ancient Near Eastern religions, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.
3. Understand how scholars employ diverse sources and methodologies to study the past or contemporary issues.
4. Read texts in their original languages to appreciate language as a shaper and reflection of the people and cultures that are being studied.

Core Skills

1. Demonstrate proficiency in research languages of one’s specialization including one of the following languages (Arabic, Hebrew, Yiddish).
2. Develop critical analytical skills to synthesize, contextualize, and evaluate scholarly arguments using one or more disciplinary approaches (i.e., literary criticism, philology, etc.).
3. Develop the ability to situate primary texts, documents, traditions, ideas, artistic productions, and other data in the context of the relevant Jewish and Ancient Near East traditions, as well as the context of surrounding cultures, and to assess their meaning.
4. Demonstrate ability to conduct research (conceptualize, plan, and execute) and write a significant piece of scholarship that contributes to one or more scholarly discourses within the subfields of Near Eastern and Judaic Studies.
5. Develop expertise in pedagogy and teaching.

Social Justice

1. Learn to appreciate diversity and transformations in religious and cultural traditions.
2. Contribute to greater understanding in the service of a more peaceful and just society.

Students who wish to major in Near Eastern and Judaic Studies meet with the undergraduate advising head and are assigned a faculty adviser in accordance with their individual areas of interest. Together with their adviser, they develop a plan of study designed to fulfill the requirements of the major and to meet their personal interests and needs. With the approval of the department, a limited amount of credit may be awarded for appropriate courses taken at other universities. All NEJS majors will pick one of five tracks offered within the subject. For further details, please see below.

The general requirements for admission to the Graduate School, as specified in an earlier section of this Bulletin, apply to candidates for admission to this program.

Guy Antebi
Hebrew language.

Darlene L. Brooks Hedstrom, Chair of Classical Studies
Antique Christianity. Classics. Late Antique Archaeology. Monasticism. Late antique Middle East.

Jonathan Decter
Sephardic studies. Jews of the Islamic world. Medieval Hebrew and Arabic poetry. Medieval Jewish Thought.

Carl Sharif El-Tobgui, Chair, Director of the Arabic Language Program
Classical Islam. Islamic thought, theology, law and jurisprudence. Arabic language (Qur’anic, classical, and modern). Classical Arabic literature and poetry.

Yuval Evri, Assistant Professor of Near Eastern and Judaic Studies on the Marash and Ocuin Chair in Ottoman, Mizrahi, and Sephardic Jewish Studies

ChaeRan Freeze, Chair of Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
Russian-Jewish historian with research interests in gender, family, sexuality, radical movements, and everyday life.

Sara Hascal, Director of Hebrew Language Program
Hebrew language.

Laura Jockusch
Modern Jewish history. Holocaust studies.

Alexander Kaye 
Jewish history. Political thought. Israel studies. Intellectual history. Director of the Schusterman Center for Israel Studies.

Lynn Kaye
Law, hermeneutics, narrative, and thought in rabbinic literature. Philosophies of time. Legal theory. Religions of late antique Mesopotamia. Critical and literary theory.

Ellen Kellman
Yiddish language and literature. East European Jewish cultural history.

Hanan El-Sayed Khashaba
Arabic language.

Reuven Kimelman
Classic Rabbinic literature. Talmud. Midrash. Liturgy. Ethics and Jewish political tradition.

Jonathan Krasner
History of American Jewish education. Teaching and learning of Jewish history. Social studies. Jewish youth. LGBT Jews.

Jon A. Levisohn
Philosophy of education. Purposes, processes, and outcomes of Jewish education in various settings. Scholarship of teaching classical Jewish texts. Director of the Mandel Center for Studies in Jewish Education.

Yehudah Mirsky 
Jewish thought. Jewish law and ethics, Israeli religion and culture and Zionist intellectual history. Political thought and human rights.

Madadh Richey
Assistant Professor of Hebrew Bible

Jonathan D. Sarna
American Jewish history, religion and life.

Mariam Sheibani
Classical Islam, Islamic Law, Islamic Intellectual History.

Eugene Sheppard, Director of Graduate Studies
Modern Jewish history and thought. European intellectual history and the history of ideas. History of political thought. Associate Director of the Tauber Institute for the Study of European Jewry.

Esther Shorr
Hebrew language.

Ilana Szobel, Undergraduate Advising Head
Modern Hebrew poetry and literature. Trauma and disabilities studies. Gender and Sexuality studies.

Affiliated Faculty (contributing to the curriculum, advising and administration of the department or program)

Ziva Hassenfeld (Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Assistant Professor of Jewish Education)

Lisa Fishbayn Joffe (Shulamit Reinharz Director of Hadassah, Brandeis Institute)

David Katz (Professor of History)

Sharon Pucker Rivo

Amy Singer (Hassenfeld Chair in Islamic Studies and Professor of History)

Aaron Spevack (Affiliated Research Faculty, Islamic Philosophy and Theology; Muslim Chaplain, Center for Spiritual Life)

Shayna Weiss (Associate Director of the Schusterman Center for Israel Studies)

The minor consists of a coherent set of five courses in Near Eastern and Judaic Studies, of which two may be cross-listed courses or courses taken at other universities.

1. No more than two of the following semester courses may be applied toward the minor: YDSH 10a (Beginning Yiddish), YDSH 20b (Continuing Yiddish), ARBC 10a (Beginning Literary Arabic), and ARBC 20b (Continuing Literary Arabic). HBRW 10a (Beginning Hebrew) and HBRW 20b (Intermediate Hebrew).
2. Students are required to declare the minor in NEJS no later than the beginning of the senior year. Each student declaring a minor will be assigned a departmental adviser after conferring with the undergraduate advising head.
3. By departmental rule, a maximum of two semester course credits for courses taken at other universities, whether in the United States or abroad, may be accepted toward the minor in NEJS. Students are encouraged to seek advance approval from the department's undergraduate adviser for all courses intended for transfer credit. For courses taken in Israeli universities, one Brandeis semester credit will be given for a three-hour-per-week one-semester course; a two-semester, two-hour-per-week course; or two two-hour, one-semester courses. Nonresident credit for purpose (not numeric course credit) may be granted for summer Ulpan programs at qualifying Israeli university programs, based on the approval of the Director of Hebrew and Arabic Languages in conjunction with the Study Abroad Office.
4. No course with a final grade below C- can count toward fulfilling the minor requirements in Near Eastern and Judaic Studies.
5. No course taken pass/fail may count toward the minor requirements.

 

Near Eastern and Judaic Studies majors may choose from among five tracks reflecting these focus areas of the department: (1) Judaic Studies; (2) The Bible and the Ancient World; (3) Hebrew Language; (4) Arabic and Islamic Studies; and (5) Israel Studies. The requirements for each focus area entail language proficiency, which may be demonstrated on the basis of a placement test.

No course with a grade below a C- or any course taken pass/fail will count toward the major. Up to four courses of those required for the major may be courses cross-listed with other departments or courses taken at other universities. The remaining ones must be taken with NEJS Faculty.

The department recommends that majors complete introductory courses (below the 100 level), preferably by the end of the sophomore year.

Required of All Majors

Foundational Literacies: As part of completing the Near Eastern and Judaic Studies major, students must:

• Fulfill the writing intensive requirement by successfully completing one of the following: Any NEJS course approved for WI, or HBRW 124a, HBRW 144a, HBRW 146a, HBRW 161b, HBRW 164b, HBRW 170a, or YDSH 30a.
• Fulfill the oral communication requirement by successfully completing one of the following: HBRW 121a, HBRW 121b, HBRW 144a, HBRW 152b, HBRW 164b, NEJS 123a, NEJS 123b, NEJS 153a, NEJS 174b, or NEJS 184b.
• Fulfill the digital literacy requirement by successfully completing one of the following: HBRW 124a, HBRW 167b, NEJS 10a, NEJS 123a, NEJS 137b, or NEJS 186a.

No single course may satisfy all three foundational literacies.

Judaic Studies Track

A minimum of nine semester courses, apart from the courses taken to fulfill the fourth semester language requirement, are required for this major. A single course may fulfill requirements in multiple categories.

1. Distribution Requirement: Students must complete one course in each of the following three chronological periods:
   

   Biblical

   CLAS 119b, NEJS 10a, 10b, 18a, 29a, 104a, 107a, 110b, 111a, 112a, 113a, 113b, 114a, 115b, 116a, 117b, 121b, 122a, 122b.

   Early Post-Biblical, Rabbinic, and Medieval Judaism

   IMES 104a, NEJS 3a, 6a, 25a, 123b, 124b, 125a, 125b, 126a, 126b, 127a, 127b, 128a, 133b, 134a, 137b, 140b, 144a, 155a, 166a, 166b, 186a, 194b, 195a.

   Modern and Contemporary Jewish Studies

   FA 76a, FA/NEJS 183a, HIST 188b, HS 125a, IMES 105a, LGLS 134b, NEJS 29a, 37a, 117a, 123b, 125a, 132b, 133a, 135a, 136a, 136b, 139b, 141a, 141b, 142a, 144a, 145a, 146a, 147b, 148a, 149b, 150a, 150b, 153a, 154b, 156a, 157a, 157b, 158b, 159a, 159b, 160a, 161a, 161b, 162a, 162b, 163a, 164a, 164b, 166a, 166b, 169a, 169b, 170a, 170b, 171a, 171b, 173a, 174a, 176b, 177a, 178a, 181a, 181b, 182a, 183b, 184a, 184b, 185b, 189a, 189b, 191b, 192b, 195a, 196a, 247b, NEJS/WGS 110a, YDSH 10a, 20b, 30a, 40b.

2. Comparative Requirement: Students must complete one course that provides a comparative context for Judaic Studies in either 1) Ancient Near East, 2) Christianity, or 3) Islam. CAST 170a, CLAS 118b, HIST 117b, NEJS 3a, 9a, 114a, 128a, 129b, 133b, 134a, 139b, 143a, 173a, 184b, 186a, 187b, 190b, 193a, 194b, 195b, 196b, and 198a fulfill this requirement. Consult the Undergraduate Advising Head concerning courses outside NEJS that may also fulfill this requirement.
3. Hebrew Language Requirement: Students must complete any fourth-semester or higher Hebrew course or NEJS 173a, 174a, 174b, or 178a. Exemptions will be granted to those students who place out on the basis of the Hebrew placement test administered by the Hebrew program at Brandeis.
4. Text-intensive Requirement: Students must complete one advanced NEJS course either in Modern Hebrew Literature or in Classical Hebrew Texts including: NEJS 10b, 25a, 107a, 110b, 112a, 113a, 117b, 119a, 121b, 122b, 125b, 126a, 126b, 127b, 173a, 174a, 174b, 178a.

The Bible and the Ancient World Track

Nine courses pertaining to the Bible and its ancient context are required for the major. A single course may fulfill requirements in multiple categories.

1. Distribution Requirement: Students must complete one course in each of the following three areas of study:
   

   1. The Ancient Middle East: CLAS 117b, 119b, 155a, NEJS 104a, 113a, 116a, 122a.

   2. The Hebrew Bible and Ancient Israel: CLAS 119b, NEJS 12a, 106a, 113b, 115b, 117b, 122a.

   3. Ancient and Medieval Judaism and Early Christianity: CLAS 118a, 155a, 156b, NEJS 18a, 23a, 25a, 27a, 30a, 117b, 123b, 124b, 125a, 125b, 126a, 127a, 127b, 129b, 130b, 133b, 134a, 155a, 191a.

2. Comparative Requirement: Students must complete one course that provides a comparative context for the study of the Bible and the Ancient World that broadens and reinforces the contextual or methodological horizons of study in the Near Eastern and Judaic Studies department. In consultation with their NEJS advisor, students should select a course treating a geographically and/or chronologically adjacent ancient context (e.g., in Classics), an interpretive tradition engaging biblical, early Jewish, early Christian, and/or ancient Middle Eastern texts (e.g. AAAS, Education, English, Philosophy), methods applicable to historical textual study (e.g., in Anthropology, History, Linguistics, Sociology, WGS), etc. Examples of courses that can satisfy this requirement include ANTH 128a, CLAS 118b, 133a, 144b, 160a, ED/NEJS 170b, ENG 111a, 111b, HIST 178a, LING 100a, WGS 6b.
3. Primary Language Requirement: Students must complete four semesters of an ancient Middle Eastern language, typically biblical Hebrew. Students should begin with NEJS 10a to be followed by NEJS 10b, and then proceed with courses tagged as “Advanced Biblical Hebrew,” such as NEJS 107a, 110b, 112a, 119a, 121b, and 122b. NEJS 113a may be counted as one of these four semesters.
4. Secondary Language Requirement: Students must study one other ancient Middle Eastern or Mediterranean language to the second semester level (typically Greek, Latin, Arabic, or—when offered—Akkadian, i.e., cuneiform Babylonian and Assyrian). The following courses fulfill this requirement and are taught annually: Greek: GRK 10a, 20b; Latin: LAT 10a, 20b; Arabic: ARBC 10a, 20b.

Hebrew Language Track

Nine courses, apart from the courses taken to fulfill the fourth semester language requirement, are required for this major. A single course may fulfill requirements in multiple categories.

1. Text-intensive Requirement: Students must complete NEJS 10a, NEJS 10b, or at least one course in Classical Hebrew Texts; and one course with a NEJS prefix in Modern Hebrew Literature.
2. Hebrew Language Requirement: Students must complete any fourth-semester or higher Hebrew course or NEJS 173a, 174a, 174b, or 178a. Exemptions will be granted to those students who place out on the basis of the Hebrew placement test administered by the Hebrew program at Brandeis.
3. Distribution Requirement: Students must complete at least five advanced-level Hebrew courses (above Hebrew 40).
4. Israel Studies Requirement: Students must complete one course in Israel Studies. Courses that fulfill this requirement: FA 68a, 76a, FA/NEJS 183a, HIST 114a, NEJS 130b, 135a, 136a, 139b, 141b, 145a, 145b, 154b, 157b, 173a, 174a, 174b, 177a, 178a, 184b, 189a, 189b, 191b, 196a, and HRNS 350a. Courses offered by Schusterman visiting scholars and others may also satisfy this requirement; consult the Undergraduate Advising Head.
5. Jewish Studies Requirement: Students must complete one NEJS course from among the following list: NEJS 5a, 6a, 123b, 124b, 125a, 127a, 135a, 140b, 150a, 160a, 161a, 169b, 173a, 184b, or NEJS/WGS 110a.
6. History of Hebrew Requirement: Students must complete Hebrew 167b (Back to the Roots: The Revival of Modern Hebrew)

Arabic and Islamic Studies Track

A minimum of eight semester courses, apart from the Arabic language requirement, are required for this major. A single course may fulfill requirements in multiple categories with the exception of a course used to fulfill the Arabic requirement (once the Arabic requirement is fulfilled, other Arabic courses may be used to fulfill other requirements).

A. One of the following Arabic courses: ARBC 103b, ARBC 106a, ARBC 106b, or NEJS 177b.

B. Foundational Course: NEJS104b.

C. Distribution Requirement: Seven other courses, at least two of which must pertain to the pre-modern period and one of which must pertain to the modern period.

1. Pre-modern period (two courses minimum): HIST 134b, HIST 140b, HIST 165a, NEJS 3a, NEJS 134a, NEJS 143a, NEJS 144a, NEJS 155a, NEJS 186a, NEJS 187b, NEJS 190a, NEJS 191a, NEJS 193a, NEJS 194b, NEJS 195a, NEJS 195b.
2. Modern period (one course minimum): AAAS 175a, ANTH 118b, ANTH 120b, ANTH 141a, ANTH/FA 33b, FA 76a, HBRW 146a, HBRW 152b, HIST 111a, HIST 111b, HIST 112a, HIST 134b, HIST 135b, HIST  178a, HIST 185b, NEJS 157b, NEJS 174a, NEJS 189a, NEJS 189b, NEJS 196a, POL 145b, POL 162b, POL 164a, REL 107a, SAS 100a.

D. Foundational Literacies

1. Writing Intensive.  Any course counting toward the major with a WI designation.
2. Oral Communication. Any course counting toward the major with an OC designation.
3. Digital Literacy. Any course counting toward the major with a DL designation.

E. Double-Counting: No more than two courses being counted toward another major or minor may count toward the AIS track of the NEJS major.

Israel Studies Track

A minimum of nine semester courses, apart from the courses taken to fulfill the fourth semester language requirement, are required for this major. A single course may fulfill requirements in multiple categories. Six of the nine courses need to be taken with NEJS or NEJS-affiliated faculty.

A. Israeli Society, History, and its Cultures Requirement: Students must complete a minimum of three courses from the following offerings: 

HBRW 121a, HBRW 121b, HBRW 144a, HBRW 146a, HBRW 164b, HBRW 167b, HBRW 170a, NEJS 136a, NEJS 145a, NEJS 150b, NEJS 154a, NEJS 160b, NEJS 173A, NEJS 174a, NEJS 177a, NEJS 178a, NEJS 17b, NEJS 180b, NEJS 189a, NEJS 189b, NEJS 236a, POL 177b.

B. Distribution requirement: Students must complete one course in each of the following three areas of study:

1. Modern Jewish History, Thought, or Culture (minimum of one course): 

   HBRW 167b, HS 125a, NEJS 5a, NEJS 6a, NEJS 117a, NEJS 124b, NEJS 127b, NEJS 134a, NEJS 135a, NEJS 140b, NEJS 141a, NEJS 144a, NEJS 145a, NEJS 149b, NEJS 150b, NEJS 154b, NEJS 157b, NEJS 159a, NEJS 164a, NEJS 166a, NEJS 181a, NEJS 181b, NEJS 184a, NEJS 191b, NEJS 192b, NEJS 247b, NEJS 259a, NEJS 260b

2. Modern Middle Eastern Society, History, Politics, or Culture (minimum of one course): 

   ANTH 118b, ANTH 141a, ECON 122b, FA 33b, HIST 106b, HIST 111a, HIST 111b, HIST 134b, HIST 134b, HIST 135b, HIST 140b, HIST 178a, HIST 185b, NEJS 104b, NEJS 144a, NEJS 185b, POL 143b, POL 164a

3. Theoretical Frameworks (minimum of one course): 

   AAAS/ENG 141b, AAAS/WGS 121a, AAAS/WGS 136a, ANTH 113b, ANTH 115b, ANTH 140a, ANTH 144a, ANTH 156a, ANTH 80a, CLAS 118b, ECON 69a, ENG 151a, HIST 188b, HSSP 192b, NEJS 128b, NEJS 141b, NEJS 160a, NEJS 184b, NEJS/WGS 110a, PHIL 128b, SOC 127a, SOC 129a, SOC 146b, WGS 5a, WGS 6b,  WGS 105b, WGS 171a

C. Primary Language Requirement: Students must complete any fourth-semester or higher course in Hebrew or Arabic. Consideration may also be given to another language such as Yiddish or Russian that may be relevant to the study of modern Israel.

Honors

Satisfactory completion of NEJS 99d (Senior Research) is required of candidates for degrees with honors. Students should start planning and preparing early in their career for their honors thesis and take courses with the faculty members related to that area. The undergraduate advising head should be contacted for assistance in the selection of a senior thesis adviser. Those proposing to seek honors must petition the department no later than September of their senior year.

1. By departmental rule, a maximum of four semester courses taken at other universities may be accepted toward the departmental major requirements. Each course transferred from another university must have the approval of the department in order to be acceptable for credit toward the major requirements. This rule applies to courses completed at any other institution, whether in the United States or abroad.
2. No more than two courses taken at special programs for overseas students may be applied. Students are encouraged to seek advance approval from the department's undergraduate advising head for all courses intended for transfer credit. If approved, these courses will normally count toward degree electives and not core, distribution, or language requirements for the degree.
3. Nonresident credit for purpose (not numeric course credit) may be granted for summer Ulpan programs at qualifying Israeli university programs, based on the approval of the Director of Hebrew and Arabic Languages in conjunction with the Study Abroad Office.

The Department of Near Eastern and Judaic Studies encourages students to participate in internships that integrate academic knowledge and practical experiences. It sponsors credit-bearing internships (NEJS 92a) for junior and senior majors and minors. Internships combine off-campus or on-campus work that provides significant learning in the areas of NEJS with academic study supervised by a departmental faculty sponsor. Students may count one NEJS 92a toward their major or minor. Students doing summer internships may register for course credit in the following fall semester. A minimum of a B+ GPA in NEJS courses is required for eligibility. For additional information, please contact the undergraduate advising head.

NEJS 92a involves as much work as a regular NEJS course. In addition to following the general internship guidelines established elsewhere in this Bulletin, NEJS internships must include each of the following:

1. Before the end of the add/drop period at the start of each semester, the NEJS faculty member who is supervising the internship must approve the written contract proposed by the student; the blank internship contract should be used as a basis. This contract should at a minimum outline the following: the number of hours on the site, scheduled meetings with the faculty member supervising the internship, and significant academic readings that enrich and deepen the field experience.
2. The student must keep a detailed diary of the internship experience, to be shared with the faculty member.
3. The student must complete a substantive research project that synthesizes what has been learned from the internship and links it to appropriate literature.
4. The undergraduate advising head must approve, in advance and in writing, every NEJS 92a and b.

Additional information and forms may be found on the NEJS website.

Brandeis undergraduates who are NEJS majors are invited in their junior year to apply for admission to the five year BA/MA. Students must complete all requirements for the BA at the end of the fourth year, including the successful completion of the major in NEJS. The MA is awarded in Near Eastern and Judaic Studies.

Program of Study

Fourteen courses are required:

1. Internal transfer credit: seven Brandeis undergraduate courses (NEJS and/or approved cross-listed courses) numbered 100 or above for which grades of B- or higher have been earned.
2. Seven courses taken in the fifth year: four approved NEJS courses taught by NEJS faculty and three approved electives. Approved undergraduate language courses may be taken and count toward the required three electives.

Capstone requirement

Students must complete one of the three capstone options listed under the requirements for the NEJS MA.

Residence Requirement

One year of full-time in-person residence (the fifth year) is required subsequent to completing the BA.

Language Requirement

All candidates are required to demonstrate language proficiency, normally in biblical or modern Hebrew or in Arabic.

The Hornstein BA/MA degree supplements undergraduate study in Near Eastern and Judaic Studies, Hebrew, or Yiddish with a master’s degree in Hornstein Jewish Professional Leadership. Please see The Hornstein Jewish Professional Leadership Program for complete details.

Program of Study and Residence Requirement

There are two tracks for the MA in Near Eastern and Judaic Studies: 

1. The first track is an accelerated, one-year program of 32 credits, including one language course (4 credits) at or beyond the fourth-semester level or a text-intensive course and a thesis or final project. This track, designed for students already proficient in Arabic, Hebrew (Modern or Biblical), or Yiddish, requires one year of in-person residency.
2. The second track is a two-year program of 48 credits, including four courses (16 credits) in Arabic, Hebrew (Modern or Biblical), or Yiddish, and a thesis or final project. This track, designed for students with no prior training in one of the languages listed, requires two years of in-person residency.

At least five of these required courses (20 credits) must be taught by faculty members of the Near Eastern and Judaic Studies department. Students must obtain prior approval from the MA advisor before taking courses outside of NEJS. 

Accelerated, One-year MA in Near Eastern and Judaic Studies

The accelerated one-year program, consisting of a minimum of 32 credits, is for students who enter the program with advanced language proficiency.

Requirements:

• One year full-time in-person residence 
• Complete eight courses (32 credits)
• One of the eight courses is a 40-level language (Arabic, Biblical Hebrew, Modern Hebrew, or Yiddish) course or above. 
• One of the eight courses is a capstone course, either NEJS 298a or 299a 
• Complete at least five of the eight courses with NEJS faculty

Two-year MA in Near Eastern and Judaic Studies

The two-year program, consisting of a minimum of 48 credits, is for students who need to acquire language proficiency to complete the MA.

Requirements:

• Four semesters of full-time in-person residency 
• Complete twelve courses (48 credits)
• Four of the twelve courses are language courses to ensure a student reaches a 40-level proficiency in the desired language (Arabic, Biblical Hebrew, Modern Hebrew, or Yiddish). 
• One of the twelve courses is a capstone course, either NEJS 298a or 299a 
• Complete at least five of the seven content courses with NEJS faculty. 
• If a student completes language study in the summer between the first and second years, the time to degree may be shortened.

Advising

Students are assigned advisors from the Near Eastern and Judaic Studies department. Students must meet with their advisor(s) regularly and before enrolling in courses to ensure appropriate course coherency.

Language Requirement

The MA programs are designed to prepare students for advanced study of primary and secondary sources in the original languages of composition. Towards that end, the program expects a basic level of proficiency in at least one language. All candidates are required to demonstrate language proficiency, normally in Arabic, Hebrew (Modern or Biblical), or Yiddish. The language requirement for Arabic, Hebrew (Modern or Biblical), or Yiddish may be fulfilled in one of two ways:

1. By enrolling in and receiving a grade of B- or higher in a 40-level or higher Arabic, Hebrew (Modern or Biblical), or Yiddish course, or by passing a classical Hebrew text course, or modern Hebrew literature course taught in Hebrew;
2. By passing the language examination offered by the adviser or by the Arabic, Hebrew (Modern or Biblical), or Yiddish, faculty. Students are permitted the use of an appropriate (hard copy) dictionary. Electronic dictionaries are not permitted.

Only students in the two-year MA may fulfill the language requirement with courses below the 100-level.

Capstone

All candidates for the MA are required to complete a culminating assignment under the supervision of two regular NEJS faculty members.  NEJS 299b Master’s Thesis may be taken for credit one semester only. Students must select one of the following culminating assignments:

1. Write an MA thesis. The thesis is typically thirty-fifty pages (or an article-length paper) and involves original research. The Master's thesis must be deposited electronically to the ProQuest ETD database. For students writing a MA Thesis, the appropriate course is NEJS 299a or b, "Master’s Thesis." The thesis or project requires a second reader from the NEJS faculty and a formal 1-hour defense of the thesis before the date established by the NEJS department.
2. Complete a significant final project. A final project might involve creating a curriculum, curating an exhibit including writing a catalogue, and/or creating a website. The one-hour oral examination typically tests factual knowledge, analytical skills, and ability to synthesize relevant material. The number of hours involved in producing a project is comparable to writing a thesis; only the format is different. Standards for evaluating the thesis and the project are also comparable. Students preparing a final project may register for NEJS 295a "Readings for MA Projects." The thesis or project requires a second reader from the NEJS faculty and a formal 1-hour defense of the thesis before the date established by the NEJS department.
3. Take an oral examination. The examination is one-hour, oral (rather than written), and typically tests factual knowledge, analytical skills, and ability to synthesize relevant material. It may include work covered in courses as well as new material. Students should establish with their examiners an agreed-upon list of materials that the examination will cover. A student electing a MA oral exam will not need to sign up for a course.

This program prepares future Jewish leaders to understand contemporary issues within the context of Jewish history, culture, and tradition. The program provides the knowledge, research skills, and practical tools necessary to envision and help shape twenty-first-century Jewish life. Graduates of this dual degree program receive a Master of Arts in Jewish Professional Leadership from the Hornstein Program, and a Master of Arts from the Department of Near Eastern and Judaic Studies.

Degree Requirements

The dual degree requires seventy-six course credits, usually completed in five semesters, including the summer between years one and two. Approximately thirty-six credits are taken as Hornstein courses, thirty-two credits (100-level or above) as NEJS courses (of which at least 24 credits are taught by NEJS faculty members) with the remaining credits taken as electives. Students must also complete a comprehensive examination, thesis, or capstone project related to both Hornstein and NEJS learning. The remainder of each student’s program is individualized and is created in conjunction with advisors from Hornstein and NEJS.

Supervised Professional Field Experience

Supervised professional field experience forms an important part of the Hornstein program. It is designed to immerse students in the best professional practices and organizations within the Jewish community, to help students refine their practical skills, learn to turn theory into action, and become self-reflective and effective practitioners.

Field experience usually takes place in the summer and/or second year of the program and consists of approximately 150-250 hours of work managing a project jointly created by the student, the Hornstein faculty, and the supervisor in the field organization.

Myra Kraft Seminar in Israel

Students take a classroom seminar (usually two credits each of the two fall semesters) and then travel to Israel (twice, 10 days each winter break) as a required part of the curriculum to examine contemporary issues in Israeli society and its relationship with diaspora communities.

Language Requirement

All candidates are required to demonstrate language proficiency in modern Hebrew upon completion of the program. Please see language requirement for MA degree under Near Eastern and Judaic Studies in this Bulletin.

Capstone Project

Students must complete one of the three capstone options listed under the requirements for the NEJS MA, in a manner that reflects and integrates their study in this joint program.

Co-curricular Requirements

Hornstein Community Time

Meeting periodically throughout the year, these required sessions enable Hornstein community planning, bring innovative Jewish leaders into an intimate setting with Hornstein students for conversations about Jewish leadership and decision-making, and enable students to present their learning to one another. Students are involved in planning and coordinating the various Community Time activities.

Betty Starr Colloquium

Students spend four days in New York City visiting the national offices of major and start-up Jewish organizations to explore aspects of the communal agenda with agency executives.

Milender Seminar in Jewish Communal Leadership

Students participate in a three-day seminar about Jewish leadership with an outstanding leader of the Jewish communal world. 

Residence Requirement

The residence requirement is 4.5 semesters of in-person full-time study or the equivalent thereof in part-time study.

Program of Study and Residence Requirement

Ordinarily, two years of full-time residence are required at the normal course rate of 28-32 credit hours  each academic year.

1. At least thirty-two credit hours must be taken in the Near Eastern and Judaic Studies department and must include the joint MA capstone project and paper (see below). Students may not include courses taken to prepare for the MA language examination (HBRW 102a and b and below, or ARBC 40b and below) among thirty-two credit hours.
2. At least  thirty-two hours must be taken in Coexistence and Conflict program. They include twenty-eight credit  hour, COEX core courses: HS 210a (Coexistence and Conflict: Theory and Analysis, 4 credits), HS 227f (Introduction to Design, Monitoring and Evaluation, 2 credits), HS 230f (Coexistence Research Methods, 2 credits), HS 244a (Responsible Negotiation, 4 credits), HS 277a (Planning and Implementation, 2 credits), and HS 294F (Mediation Principles and Skills, 2 credits). Students must also take POL 164A (Conflict and Peacemaking in the Middle East) and choose at least 4 credits in the list of COEX core elective courses.

All course selections and their relevance must be discussed with and approved by the NEJS Director of Graduate Studies and the COEX program director.

Language Requirement

All candidates are required to demonstrate language proficiency, normally in biblical or modem Hebrew or Arabic, upon entry to the program. The language requirement for Hebrew or Arabic may be fulfilled in one of two ways:

1. By enrolling in and receiving a grade of B- or higher in a 40-level or higher Hebrew or Arabic course, or by passing a classical Hebrew text course, or modem Hebrew literature course taught in Hebrew;
2. By passing the language examination offered by the adviser or by the Hebrew faculty or Arabic faculty. Students are permitted the use of an appropriate (hard copy) dictionary. Electronic dictionaries are not permitted.

Joint Master's Project and Paper 

All students are required to complete an internship or independent fieldwork, with a concluding paper written under the supervision of two faculty mentors, one from NEJS and one from COEX. Students must develop an MA project designed to test their application of Conflict Resolution and Coexistence theory to practice while applying their background in NEJS. This will entail expanding students' policy and practical experience, and, under supervision, increasing their security and comfort levels at working in what is usually a contentious and sometimes dangerous field. In addition, the field project is planned to test and improve the breadth and depth of student's professional skills and to significantly increase their networks of collaboration.

The project will consist of either of the following options:

1. An internship of at least three months in a governmental or nongovernmental organization (consistent with the NEJS focus) assisting with the development and implementation of a policy or a program of coexistence intervention. Students will (1) identify an intervention or their particular part of an intervention; (2) set objectives and timelines; (3) secure partners and terms of references, where necessary for its implementation; (4) ensure that appropriate monitoring and evaluating techniques are built into the program design; and (5) write a final report on the intervention.
2. Independent fieldwork for at least three months in a conflict area (consistent with the NEJS focus). Such fieldwork will be designed to assist the generation and development of new coexistence and conflict management intervention options, and must be undertaken in partnership with policymakers or practitioners who are already working in the area. The report of this fieldwork includes feedback and evaluations from prospective partners already working in the area.

The option of doing a Master’s thesis can be discussed with, and approved by, the NEJS Director of Graduate Studies and the COEX program director.

Students interested in the joint two-year terminal MA degree program must first be admitted to the MA degree program in NEJS in the regular manner.

Program of Study

Courses must include:

1. WGS 205a, the foundational course in Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies.
2. A course in feminist research methodologies (WGS 208b, or the Feminist Inquiry course offered through the Graduate Consortium in Women's Studies, or an alternate).
3. Two elective courses in women’s, gender, and sexuality studies—one inside and one outside the NEJS department. Normally, only one of these courses may be a Directed Readings course (WGS 310a,b).
4. The remaining courses must be jointly approved by each student's NEJS adviser and by the NEJS Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies adviser.
5. Successful completion of one of the following: a comprehensive examination, a culminating project, a Master’s research paper (see F), or a Master's thesis. If a Master’s thesis encompasses both a NEJS and a WGS language component (e.g., primary research in a Near Eastern Language like Hebrew or Arabic) it may satisfy requirement G below.
6. If the student decides to do a research paper, it must be of professional quality and length (normally twenty-five to forty pages) on a topic related to the joint degree. The paper will be read by two faculty members, one of whom is a member of the Near Eastern and Judaic Studies department and one of whom is a member of the Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies core or affiliate faculty. NEJS 299a Master’s Thesis may be taken for credit one semester only.
7. All candidates are required to demonstrate language proficiency, normally in Arabic, Hebrew (Modern or Biblical), or Yiddish, by graduation. The language requirement for Arabic, Hebrew (Modern or Biblical), or Yiddish, may be fulfilled in one of two ways:
   
   1. By enrolling in and receiving a grade of B- or higher in a 40-level or higher Arabic, Hebrew (Modern or Biblical), or Yiddish, course, or by passing a classical Hebrew text course, or modern Hebrew literature course taught in Hebrew;
   2. By passing the language examination offered by the adviser or by the ​​Arabic, Hebrew (Modern or Biblical), or Yiddish, faculty. Students are permitted the use of an appropriate (hard copy) dictionary. Electronic dictionaries are not permitted.
8. All candidates for the Master of Arts degree are required to pass a comprehensive examination.

Residence Requirement

Ordinarily, two years of full-time in-person residence are required at the normal course rate of 28 credit hours each academic year.

Doctoral Programs

Students admitted to the NEJS PhD program may pursue doctoral study in the department faculty strengths in Hebrew Bible in the Ancient Middle East; Ancient and Medieval Jewish, Christian, and Islamic Studies; and Jewish history and culture through the ages, including the study of Israel.

Residence Requirement

Three years of in-person residence are required. During that time, students are required to complete 18 courses (72 credits), at the normal rate of at least seven courses (28 credits) each academic year in the first two years and four courses (16 credits) in the third year.

Transfer of Academic Credit

Students who hold an MA degree from a university other than Brandeis are allowed to transfer up to 3 courses (12 credits) into their Brandeis graduate record if that coursework is relevant to their coursework at Brandeis, pending approval by DGS and the registrar. Students who have completed a NEJS MA may transfer up to 7 content courses (28 credits).

Teaching Requirement

All PhD students are required to participate in undergraduate teaching during the course of their studies. Every graduate teaching assistant (TA) is supervised by a member of the faculty, who serves as a mentor to improve the quality of the TA's teaching. Typically, students have to serve as TA’s for five semesters. Please see the GSAS section on Teaching Requirements and the program handbook for more details.

Advising

Students are assigned advisors from the Near Eastern and Judaic Studies department faculty upon their admission to the PhD program. The faculty advisor is associated with the student's area of specialization. Students must meet with their advisor(s) regularly and before enrolling in courses, to ensure appropriate course coherency and to build a sense of connection and community. These meetings serve the purpose of setting goals, making concrete and manageable plans for each semester, and providing an accountability check on program milestones to complete the program.

Annual Academic Performance Review and Progress to the Degree

Every student, whether or not currently in residence, must register at the beginning of each term. All graduate students will be evaluated by the NEJS faculty each spring. At this evaluation the records of all graduate students will be carefully reviewed with reference to the timely completion of coursework and non-course degree requirements, the quality of the work and research in progress and the student’s overall academic performance in the program. Non-compliance with the program milestones may lead to withdrawal from the program.

Language Requirements

Students are required to demonstrate competence in primary and secondary research languages, according to the requirements of their specific areas of specialization. Whatever their specific area of focus, one of the languages must be Hebrew (Modern or Biblical) for a PhD in NEJS.

All exams, including the Arabic, Hebrew, or Yiddish exams, and other modern research languages (e.g., German, French, among others) are composed by the students' advisors. The formats for these exams differ depending on the language, but they are typically three-hour examinations, where a hard copy of a dictionary may be used. Electronic dictionaries are not permitted. Typically, some part of a scholarly article must be translated. The questions and answers for this examination are all in English.

Students are strongly urged to complete two of their three language exams by the spring semester of their second year in the program and they are obliged to have completed all language exams by the end of their three-year-residence period.

Program Milestones in the Doctoral Program

Year 1: Residency
Complete 28 credits of content courses. Recommended: Take one language exam, preferably Hebrew by May 15 of Year 1.

Year 2: Residency
Complete 28 credits of content courses. Identify examination fields and associated faculty for comprehensive exams and dissertation committee; and complete the Second Year Paper in Spring semester by March 31. Submit dissertation project outline to advisor by May 15. Recommended: Take a second language exam, by May 15 of Year 2.

Year 3: Residency
Complete 16 credits of which 3 courses (12 credits) are Field Reading courses associated with comprehensive exam fields and 1 course (4 credits) Dissertation Prospectus Writing (Students must also register for CONT 500a for 8 credits to maintain full-time status). In the Spring semester, students will complete their comprehensive exams by February 15, write a 15-20 page dissertation proposal, and defend the proposal before their dissertation committee faculty by May 15. Required: All language exams completed.

Year 4: Non-Residency
Dissertation research and writing. Fall semester present dissertation project at NEJS Fall Dissertation Colloquium. All ABD students participate in a virtual NEJS dissertation writing group. Students must also register for CONT 500a for 12 credits to maintain full-time status.

Year 5: Non-Residency
Dissertation research and writing. Design a calendar with advisor for submitting the dissertation to the student's committee and prepare for defense. All ABD students participate in a virtual NEJS dissertation writing group. Students must also register for CONT 500a for 12 credits to maintain full-time status.

Comprehensive Examinations

All candidates for the PhD are required to pass comprehensive examinations. These consist of one Major Field (usually the field directly related to the dissertation) and two Minor Fields. Students will choose one faculty member to serve as examiner for each field. Reading lists should include 75 books and articles for major field and 30-40 books and articles for each minor field.

In the fall semester of their third year in the program, students will enroll in three PhD Field Reading courses with their examiners to prepare for their written and oral exams. The comprehensive exams include a written and an oral component: a) an eight-hour written take-home exam to cover all three fields, and b) a 90-minute oral exam to be scheduled one week after the written exam. Students are required to complete their written and oral exams by February 15th of the spring semester of their third year of residency in the program.

Dissertation Proposal

In the spring semester of the third year, students must enroll in the PhD Dissertation Proposal Writing course. They will work on dissertation proposals and literature related to the dissertation project. By May 15, they must defend the proposal before the Dissertation Proposal Committee (this can be the same as the exam committee. Outside readers will join at dissertation defense stage). The students are “ABD” after the successful proposal defense before committee. Proposals should be 15-20 pages in length, plus bibliography. They should contain a clear articulation of the topic with rationale, a summary of current research in its area, its intended contribution to scholarship, methodology, sources, structure and table of contents, preliminary bibliography, and any other relevant material. All recent ABDs are required to present their dissertation proposal/project before the NEJS faculty in an Annual Fall Dissertation Colloquium.

ABD and Dissertation Writing Phase

Students are strongly encouraged to enroll in a non-credit bearing Dissertation Writing Seminar. Once a month virtual or hybrid dissertation writing seminar/colloquium, which is mandatory for all dissertation writers. It could be led by the DGS and be held in an open format in which students make a writing plan for each semester, can get feedback from the DGS and other students in the group, can address problems of time management and goal setting, and have a weekly accountability check that helps them build positive writing habits. Teaching this seminar can be made a feature of the job of the NEJS DGS instead of one of his/her regular courses. Students working on their prospectus will be invited to attend. Students must also register for CONT 500a for 12 credits each semester to maintain full-time status.

Dissertation and Defense

The dissertation, ordinarily between 250 and 400 pages in length, must demonstrate the candidate's thorough mastery of the field and competence in pursuing independent research; it must also constitute an original contribution to knowledge. Two copies of the dissertation are to be deposited in the office of the program chair three weeks before the dissertation defense deadline for the semester in which the candidate expects to earn the degree. The student must successfully defend the dissertation at a final oral examination.

Course Subgroupings

Ancient Languages (NEJS 100a-108b)
Bible and Ancient Near East (NEJS 109a-122b)
Rabbinics (NEJS 123b-127b)
Early Christianity (NEJS 128a-130b)
Non-American Jewish History (NEJS 131a-153b)
Jewish Thought (NEJS 153a-160b)
American Jewish History and Sociology (NEJS 161a-168b)
Jewish Education (NEJS 169a-171b)
Jewish and Hebrew Literature (NEJS 172a-180b)
Creative Arts and Near Eastern and Judaic Studies (NEJS 181a-184b)
Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies (NEJS 185a-199b)
Ancient Languages (NEJS 200a-208b)
Bible and Ancient Near East (NEJS 209a-222b)
Jewish Studies Core Methodology Seminars (NEJS 231a-235b)
Jewish History (except the Americas) (NEJS 236a-252b)
Jewish Thought (NEJS 253a-260b)
American Jewish History and Sociology (NEJS 261a-268b)
Modern Middle East (NEJS 285a-299b)
Reading Courses (NEJS 315a-389b)
Israel Studies (NEJS 72a, 135a, 141b, 145a, 145b, 152a, 154b, 160b, 172b, 173a, 174a/b, 177a, 178a, 178b, 180b, 184b, 185a, 189a, 191b, 211b, 253a, 259a, 285b)

FA/NEJS 43a Middle Eastern Cities: Navigating the Transition from Empires to Nation-States and the Globalized Wo
[ ca djw hum ]

Offers an integrated exploration of Middle Eastern literature, urbanism, and architecture. It delves into the vibrant urban heritage of the Middle East, spanning from ancient metropolises like Cairo, Damascus, Istanbul, Jerusalem, and Baghdad. By engaging in a comprehensive examination of Middle Eastern cities, students will acquire profound insights into the region's multifaceted histories, including the impacts of colonialism, imperialism, nation-state formation, and the dynamics within our increasingly globalized world. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 3a Religions of Abraham: Judaism, Christianity, Islam
[ hum ]

An introduction to the three major religions originating in the Near East: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Areas of focus include historical development, sacred texts, rituals, and interpretive traditions. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 5a How Did Biblical Judaism Evolve into Modern Judaism?
[ hum ]

A survey of the Jewish experience and thought, focusing on the varieties of historical Judaism, including its classical forms, its medieval patterns and transformations, and its modern options. Usually offered every year.

NEJS 6a Jewish History: From Ancient to Modern Worlds
[ hum nw ]

Surveys ideas, institutions, practices and events central to critical approaches to the Jewish past and present. Dynamic processes of cross-fertilization, and contestation between Jews and their surroundings societies will be looked, as well as tradition and change, continuity and rupture. No background in the subject matter is required. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 10a Biblical Hebrew Grammar and Texts
[ dl fl hum ]

Prerequisite: HBRW 20b or the equivalent as determined by placement examination.

An accelerated grammar course in Biblical Hebrew. Students engage with biblical Hebrew texts from the first class. They build from words and phrases to a literary translation and grammatical analysis of a student’s choice of biblical Hebrew narrative. Topics include: phonology and the Tiberian pronunciation tradition, syllables and stress patterns, nouns, articles, conjunctions, pronouns, adjectives, possession, prepositions, the prefix and suffix conjugations, derived stems, tense and aspect, volitives, infinitives, and irregular roots. The class uses music and digital tools to aid memorization. It builds students’ vocabularies and understanding of the unusual features of biblical grammar and syntax compared with other semitic languages and modern Hebrew.

NEJS 12a Who Wrote the Bible?
[ hum ]

Open to all students.

The Hebrew Bible (Christian “Old Testament”) is a collection of diverse and powerful books that is central to worldwide social, political, and religious experience. Despite this centrality, there are innumerable misconceptions about how the Bible came into being and what it really says. In this class, we will ask and answer questions about the Bible’s historical context and ancient meaning, with a focus on matters of composition and early reception. Who wrote the Bible? When was it written? To what circumstances were its authors responding? Moving beyond the often impossible project of identifying complex texts with individual authors, we will use both biblical and ancient non-biblical sources to situate biblical authors with respect to chronology, geography, institutions, class, gender, and more. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 18a Understanding Evil and Human Destiny
[ hum ]

May not be taken for credit by students who took FYS 18a in prior years.

Designed to introduce students to some of the Western classics that deal with the impact of evil on human destiny. Suffering, justice, and death are studied in their relationship with God, the world, and history. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 23a The Bible and Contemporary Arts, Literature and Film
[ hum ]

The Bible is a foundational text for contemporary art, literature, and political discourse as well as a sacred text in some religious traditions. This course examines Biblical reflections in cultural production, in global perspective, drawing on artists and writers from Eastern and Western Europe, the US, the Middle East and Latin America. It also gives students opportunities to see their own cultural contexts anew, and to explore the Bible's possible relevance to our time. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 25a Introduction to Talmud
[ hum oc ]

Prerequisite: A 30-level Hebrew course or the equivalent is recommended.

An introduction to Treatise Bava Metzia, on the subject of labor law. Topics include: payment for commuting time, eating on the job, benefits a worker can expect from their employer. The course introduces the Babylonian Talmud. Attention is paid to modes of argument, literary form, and development of the Talmudic text. No previous study of Talmud is presupposed. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 26b Jewish Environmental Ethics
[ djw hum ]

Explores the ways in which Jewish ethics can inform contemporary discussion of environmental issues, teaches how to read texts from a regularly distant and unfamiliar past in light of burning questions today, and in so doing offers an overview of Jewish Ethics as a whole. The readings will be a mix of primary sources (e.g., Bible, philosophers), and secondary readings by contemporary scholars and thinkers. Among the contemporary issues we will deal with are the consumption, biodiversity, animals, environmental justice, and how we can hopefully add Jewish ideas and historical experience to our toolkit. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 27a Abortion, Reproduction, and Contraception in Jewish Law and Ethics
[ hum ]

Challenges the usual framing of abortion in the U.S. as a conflict between religious and secular, or murder versus personal autonomy, and challenges the predominant Christian framings of ethical considerations for abortion, by introducing Jewish sources from the bible until today. Students will gain detailed, critical, and historical information about how Jewish law and Jewish individuals have deliberated about ending pregnancies. The primary sources, along with guest speakers and academic scholarship, will empower students to weigh and propose alternative framings of abortion and reproduction in the U.S. Topics include: Is a fetus considered alive? What grounds do Jewish ethics offer for abortion? How does a pregnant woman or person’s mental and physical health affect a decision for abortion? Do Jewish ethics recognize rape to be grounds for abortion? Who should be the decision-maker on abortion? How should genetic testing affect decisions to terminate pregnancies? How greatly do modern Jewish legal voices range on abortion? Special one-time offering, fall 2022.

NEJS 30a Reading the New Testament: Origins and Communities of Faith
[ hum ]

Open to all students.

Introduces the New Testament, its authors, and early Christian communities. The course examines the development of the New Testament in a broader Jewish and Roman context and how communities selected both canonical and non-canonical texts for shaping Christian life. Focus on decolonizing scholarship and scholars of the New Testament with attention to migration, empire, authority, race, ethnicity, gender, personhood, and reading communities within a historical framework. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 37a The Holocaust: The Destruction of European Jewry
[ hum ]

Open to all students. May not be taken for credit by students who took NEJS 137a in prior years.

Why and how did European Jews become victims of genocide? A systematic examination of the planning and implementation of Nazi Germany's 'Final Solution to the Jewish Question' and the Jewish and general responses to it. Usually offered every year.

NEJS 85a Defining Status in the Modern State: Citizens, Nationals and Refugees
[ djw hum ]

Examines terms like 'citizen,' 'national,' 'refugee,' 'stateless,' and 'indigenous' using theory, law, and historic case studies to understand the different relationships between states and people. From voting, to travel, to social security, our basic rights are determined by how a state views our legal status. In the current era of border control, refugee crises, and resurgent nationalism, a critical study of citizenship is more relevant than ever. This course will help students understand the legal terms used to categorize humanity and appreciate the complexities and limitations of those definitions in practice. Special one-time offering, spring 2021.

NEJS 92a Internship and Analysis in Near Eastern and Judaic Studies

Usually offered every year.

NEJS 98a Independent Study

Usually offered every year.

NEJS 98b Independent Study

Usually offered every year.

NEJS 99d Senior Research

Usually offered every year.

CLAS/NEJ 106b Visions of Byzantium
[ hum ]

Focuses on the medieval Roman Empire during what is known as the “Middle Byzantine” period from roughly the ninth century until the conquest of Constantinople during the Fourth Crusade in 1204. The course is designed to establish a visual and textual history of the medieval Roman Empire during its height through the analysis of three categories of evidence: documentary sources (papyri, inscriptions); historical narratives (Michael Psellos, Anna Komnena, Michael Attaleiates); and visual culture (excavated material; museum collections). The course also explores the world of historiography surrounding the study of the tenth, eleventh, and twelfth centuries. Usually offered every second year.

ED/NEJS 170b Inside Jewish Education: Language, Literacy, and Reading
[ hum ]

Combines autobiography, classroom videotapes, curriculum investigation and fieldwork to explore the purposes, practices and effects of contemporary Jewish education in its many forms and venues. Usually offered every other year.

NEJS 104b Islam: Civilization and Institutions
[ hum nw ]

Provides a disciplined study of Islamic civilization from its origins to the modern period. Approaches the study from a humanities perspective. Topics covered will include the Qur'an, tradition, law, theology, politics, Islam and other religions, modern developments, and women in Islam. Usually offered every year.

NEJS 106a Ancient Hebrew Inscriptions
[ hum ]

Prerequisite: NEJS 10a or any 30-level Hebrew course.

An introduction to the analysis of Hebrew and related inscriptions from ancient (ca. 1000-586 BCE) Israel, Judah, and neighboring kingdoms in their literary, historical, and linguistic contexts. Usually offered every third year.

NEJS 107a Biblical Prophecy
[ hum ]

Studies ancient Israel and Judah’s early prophetic literature in translation, focusing on prophecy's ancient Assyrian context and the books of Isaiah, Hosea, Amos, and Nahum. Usually offered every third year.

NEJS 110b Psalms in the Hebrew Bible
[ hum ]

Prerequisites: NEJS 10a or 40-level HBRW course or permission of the instructor.

A close reading of selected Psalms in Biblical Hebrew, with study of their poetic, historical, and mythological features and contexts. Usually offered every third year.

NEJS 113a Biblical Aramaic in Context
[ hum ]

Prerequisite: HBRW 122a or b, NEJS 10a, or permission of the instructor.

A study of the Aramaic of the Bible (Daniel and Ezra), with contemporary papyri and inscriptions from ancient Egypt and Syria. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 115a Gender, Women, and Islam
[ hum wi ]

Tracks the evolving histories of women, gender, and sexuality in diverse Muslim societies. Examines how gendered norms and sexual mores were negotiated through law, ethics, and custom. We will compare and contrast these themes in diverse societies, from the Prophet Muhammad’s community in 7th century Arabia to North American Muslim communities in the 21st century. Usually offered every third year.

NEJS 115b Gender and Sexuality in the Bible
[ hum ]

Open to all students.

The Bible's depiction of gender, relationships, and social values in narrative, poetry, and law. Topics include the legal status of women, masculinity, prostitution, and how particular readings of the biblical text have shaped modern ideas about gender and sexuality. Usually offered every third year.

NEJS 116a Mesopotamian Mythology
[ hum nw ]

Open to all students.

An introduction to the religion, mythology, and thought of the ancient Near East. Usually offered every third year.

NEJS 117a Antisemitism: An Intellectual History
[ hum ]

Engages a variety of accounts regarding the origins and developments of the elusive meanings of antisemitism from antiquity to the present. We will focus primarily on the generative tensions between hostile views and acts against Jews/Judaism and Jewish reactions to these phenomena. We will delve into the ever shifting, but often recurring, complex of terms, ideas, beliefs, myths, symbols, and tropes which fuel the antisemitic imagination and forms the reservoir for potential violent action. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 122a Magic and Witchcraft in the Ancient Near East
[ hum nw ]

Examines magical literature, rituals, and beliefs in the ancient Near East. Topics such as demonology, illness, prayer, and exorcism are covered; special attention is paid to witchcraft. This course is organized around the close reading of ancient texts. Usually offered every third year.

NEJS 123a Maps, Graphs and Timelines: Technology and Design in Historical Research
[ dl hum oc ]

Learn the practical skills to represent data digitally as graphs, maps, timelines and other models. Students will develop their own research projects in topics of their interest and learn to think critically about the opportunities and pitfalls that digital methods pose, for scholarship, inclusion and for social justice. The course will include extensive practical instruction. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 123b Gender, Species, and Ethnicity in Early Judaism
[ djw hum oc ]

Being "human" is defined by distinguishing between and ordering different beings according to race, gender, disability and species. This privileges some in society while diminishing the value of others. This course introduces the main texts of rabbinic literature around fundamental questions of what is a legal "person" and what is not. Usually offered every year.

NEJS 124b Divinity, Difference and Desire: An Introduction to Jewish Mysticism
[ hum ]

A study of Jewish mysticism through history. While investigating the nature of mysticism and the idea of mysticism itself and the transformation of key motifs of Judaism into a mystical key, the course will also be concerned with how to read a Jewish mystical text. All readings are in English. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 125b Midrashic Literature: Sifre Deuteronomy
[ hum ]

Prerequisite: A 40-level Hebrew course or the equivalent.

An analysis of the midrashic method of the Sifre Deuteronomy. Emphasis will be placed on a close reading of the text, with a view to developing in the students the capacity to do independent analysis. Usually offered every fourth year.

NEJS 126a Intermediate Talmud
[ hum ]

Prerequisite: A 40-level Hebrew course or the equivalent.

Tractate Sanhedrin, chapter three, which deals with the issue of voluntary and compulsory arbitration and the binding nature of gambling agreements. Usually offered every third year.

NEJS 126b Agadic Literature: The Ethics of the Fathers with Avot d'Rabbi Nathan
[ hum ]

Prerequisite: A 40-level Hebrew course or the equivalent.

A study of the Mishnah Avot and its classical commentaries. Focuses primarily on literary and historical questions. Usually offered every fourth year.

NEJS 127a Second Temple and Rabbinic Judaism
[ hum ]

A survey course of the Second Temple and rabbinic periods focusing on the Bible, the Apocrypha, the Pseudepigrapha, the Dead Sea Scrolls, the writing of Josephus and Philo, the Mishnah, Talmud, and Midrash. Usually offered every third year.

NEJS 127b The History and Literature of the Jewish Liturgy
[ hum ]

Prerequisite: A 20-level Hebrew course or the equivalent.

A study of the literature, theology, and history of the daily and Sabbath liturgy. Emphasis will be placed on the interplay between literary structure and ideational content, along with discussion of the philosophical issues involved in prayer. Usually offered every third year.

NEJS 128b Gender, Multiculturalism, and the Law
[ hum wi ]

May not be taken for credit by students who took PHIL 128a in prior years.

Can the state determine what children must learn in schools run by religious minorities? Should the state intervene to prevent forced or underage marriage if these practices are based on religious traditions? Can the state accommodate religiously-based demands to provide separate but equal public services to men and women, in prayer, on public transportation or at universities? These are some of the issues we will explore in this class through reading texts in law, political philosophy and modern Jewish thought. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 129b Debating Jesus: Diverse Beliefs in the Early Church
[ hum wi ]

Examines the nature of Jesus, the Trinity, and scripture, both canonical and non-canonical, in the first four centuries of early Christianity. Students analyze material culture and written documents related to a wide array of diverse Christian voices. The course explores scandals, heresies, and dissension along with points of unity and changing alliances within the Early Church in a diverse religious and political landscape. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 130b Denial and Desires: Gender and Sexuality in Early Christianity
[ hum wi ]

Formerly offered as NEJS 218a.

Investigates how Christians (1st-4th C.) contested and reshaped attitudes toward the family gender expectations (for nonbinary persons, men, and women), sexuality, and aging in cities, the countryside, and in monasteries. Readings include the New Testament, early Christian literature, and modern studies regarding the body, sexuality, and theological frameworks for defining how to maintain the Christian body. Usually offered every fourth year.
Darlene Brooks Hedstrom

NEJS 133b Judaism in the Time of Jesus
[ hum ]

Studies the dynamics of Judaism in the Roman empire in the first century CE through a study of the textual, archaeological, and art-historical evidence from the late Second Temple period to explore the cultural context out of which both Christianity and Rabbinic Judaism emerged. Special one-time offering, fall 2021.

NEJS 134a Debating Religion: Muslims, Christians, and Jews in Dialogue and Dispute
[ hum ]

A history of interreligious polemic, disputation, and dialogue among Jews, Christians, and Muslims from antiquity to modernity. The course highlights points of difference and contention among the traditions as well as the ways in which the practice of disputation played a formative role in the coevolution of those traditions. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 136a Israeli Popular Culture: Language, Gender, and Politics
[ hum ]

Ever wondered why Israeli television is all over Netflix, or why Sabra hummus came to dominate your supermarket shelves? In this course, we will examine multiple forms of popular culture, including television, music, cookbooks, social media, fashion, and more, to understand contemporary Israeli society, with a focus on debates over language, gender, and politics in a global context. Special attention will be paid to cultural production from Israel's minorities, including Israeli Palestinians, Orthodox Jews, and Mizrahim (Jews from Arab and Islamic lands.) Course readings will combine theory, primary sources, and popular criticism. No previous knowledge of Israel, Judaism, or the Middle East is required, and all materials will be provided in English translation. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 136b Revenge, Justice, and Reconciliation: Mass Atrocity Trials in the Long Shadow of Nazi Crimes
[ djw hum ]

Can crimes of the magnitude of the World War II and the Holocaust be redressed by legal means? This course explores the complex history of prosecuting Nazi crimes and how the political contexts and the legal frameworks have changed over time. It also studies the extra-judicial implications of mass atrocity trials: the societal discourse they stir, the educational lessons they teach, and historical records they create. Moreover, the course analyzes how the history of prosecuting Nazi crimes has impacted the legal redress of other gross human rights violations in the more recent past and whether the lessons learned from prosecuting Nazi crimes can be applied to the quest for racial justice in America today. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 137b Dreams and Dream Interpretation in Jewish Thought
[ dl hum ]

Jewish culture has had traditions about the origins of dreams, how to interpret them, and even how to control them, for millennia. This course takes students into sources of Jewish thoughts on dreams, answering these questions: Do dreams come from the dreamer or somewhere outside the dreamer – what happened to them, from forces beyond their control, gods, demons, angels? Do dreams tell the future? Can dreamers control their dreams? Can dreams be harnessed for good, or to do harm? Who is a trustworthy dream interpreter? How do dreams manifest in the body? The texts will include guidance for dream-healing from the Dead Sea Scroll community, a handbook on dream interpretation in the Talmud, texts from medieval Europe, and a handbook on dream interpretation by a Turkish rabbi, which gained immense popularity across the Jewish world in the 16th century. Dreams open big topics in Jewish thought including prophecy, God’s power and effect in the world, free will, time, and the soul, and big ideas in human inquiry – our connections to others, our sense of self, and the mystery of our minds. Usually offered every third year.

NEJS 138a Genocide and Mass Killing in the Twentieth Century
[ hum ]

An interdisciplinary seminar examining history and sociology of the internationally punishable crime of genocide, with the focus on theory, prevention, and punishment of genocide. Case studies include Armenians in Ottoman Turkey, Stalin's Russia, the Holocaust, Cambodia, Bosnia, and Rwanda. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 140b Gender, Ghettos, and the Geographies of Early Modern Jews
[ hum ]

Examines Jewish history and culture in early modern Europe: mass conversions on the Iberian peninsula, migrations, reconversions back to Judaism, the printing revolution, the Reformation and Counter Reformation, ghettos, gender, family, everyday life, material culture, communal structure, rabbinical culture, mysticism, magic, science, messianic movements, Hasidism, mercantilism, and early modern challenges to Judaism.

NEJS 141a Russian Jews in the Twentieth Century
[ hum ]

Examines Russian Jewish history from 1917 to the present. Focuses on the tsarist legacy, Russian Revolution, the creation of a new socialist society, development of Yiddish culture, the "Great Turn" under Stalin, Holocaust, post war Judaism, anti-Semitism, emigration, and current events. Usually offered every second year.
ChaeRan Freeze

NEJS 141b Human Rights: Law, Politics, Theology
[ hum ]

How did human rights work arise in recent decades, and why only then? Is it a new sort of religion? What critical thinking will help this vast work of advocacy, international law, democratization and humanitarianism alleviate human suffering? Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 144a Jews in the World of Islam
[ hum nw ]

Examines social and cultural history of Jewish communities in the Islamic world. Special emphasis is placed on the pre-modern Jewish communities. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 145a History of the State of Israel
[ hum ]

Examines the development of the State of Israel from its foundation to the present time. Israel's politics, society, and culture will be thematically analyzed. Usually offered every year.

NEJS 146a World Jewry since 1945
[ hum ]

Open to all students.

Examines the post war Jewish world with special attention to Jewish communities beyond Israel and the United States. Topics include demography, the emergence of new centers, anti-Semitism, identity, and assimilation. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 148a Inside Nazi Germany: Social and Political History of the Third Reich
[ hum ]

Provides an overview on the social and political history of Nazi Germany (1933-1945) covering the most significant topics pertaining to the ideological basis, structure and functioning of the regime as well as the social and political mechanisms that led millions of Germans to perpetrate war and genocide. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 149a The Jews of Muslim and Christian Spain
[ hum ]

A survey of Jewish political, intellectual, and social history in the Islamic and Christian spheres from the beginnings of Jewish life in Spain until the expulsion in 1492. Students develop skills in reading historical, literary, and philosophical texts. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 150b Israeli Civil Society: Diversity, Democracy, and Justice
[ djw hum ]

Civil society sustains democracy. It is where alternative futures are imagined, social boundaries are forged and contested, and identities are negotiated. As societies are becoming increasingly diverse and divided, and less stable and safe – civil society is where people organize, dream, and act. The Israeli civil society offers a fascinating case study for understanding the links between identity, organizations, and society. Through the Israeli context, we explore how national, ethnic, gender, cultural,  differences are constructed and managed in diverse and divided societies; understand how civic engagement shapes the future of democracy; and learn about the complexity and diversity of Jewish identity, in Israel and the diaspora. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 153a Between Ecstasy and Community: Hasidism in Jewish Thought and History
[ hum oc ]

Explores Hasidism, from the 18th century until today, as one of the dynamic forces in Jewish life, mixing radicalism and reaction, theology, storytelling and music, thick community and wild individualism, deep conformity and spiritual abandon. Usually offered every third year.

NEJS 153b The Philosophies of Abraham J. Heschel and Joseph B. Soloveitchik
[ hum ]

The two most influential American philosophers of twentieth-century Judaism were Joseph Soloveitchik and Abraham Heschel. Their distinctive combinations of modernity and tradition changed the nature of Jewish philosophical reflection in America and abroad. The course will focus on their commonalities and differences. The topics include epistemology, the understanding of the human, the nature of revelation and redemption, the function of prayer, the understanding of the Sabbath, and inter-religious dialogue. Usually offered every third year.

NEJS 154b Zionism, Israel, and the Reshaping of Jewish Identity
[ hum ]

Explores the relations between pluralism, religious resurgence, secularism and democracy in our time through readings in history, literature, philosophy, sociology, theology and law. Focuses on one fascinating, contentious and deeply consequential place: The State of Israel. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 155a Maimonides: A Jewish Thinker in the Islamic World
[ hum ]

A study of the life, world, and thought of Moses Maimonides, the most significant Jewish intellectual of the Islamic world. This course traces his intellectual output in philosophy and Judaism, from its beginning in Islamic Spain to the mature works produced in Morocco and Egypt, in the context of the Arabic-Islamic milieu. Half of the course is dedicated to studying his Guide of the Perplexed, a Judeo-Arabic work that engages the demands of revealed religion and philosophical rationalism. Usually offered every third year.

NEJS 157a Spinoza Now
[ hum ]

This seminar has a double aim. First, students will be introduced to Spinoza’s Ethics and the philosophical method he employed in facing fundamental challenges of religion, science, and politics. Second, students will be following Spinoza’s work alongside a set of 20th-21st century re-interpretations and responses that emerged first in France by Marxists and constituting the “New Spinoza,” one which prompted a re-evaluation of the fundamental problems raised when seeing aspirations for liberation and more adequate knowledge of God or nature have morphed into the emergence of deeper forms of human subjugation and the pernicious rule of will of the few in the name of the multitude. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 157b Arab-Jewish Modern Thought and Culture
[ djw hum ]

Against the backdrop of the partition of the 'Jew' from the 'Arab' in the modern national era, this course focuses on the Arab-Jewish borderland cultural world which simultaneously embodies Arab and Jewish histories, traditions, and identities. It traces different manifestations of Arab-Jewish culture from the early 20th century to today and explores the complex relationship between culture and politics in relation to questions of language, identity, nationality, borders, exile and memory. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 158b Yiddish Literature and the Modern Jewish Revolution
[ hum wi ]

Students with reading knowledge of Yiddish may elect to read the original texts.

Surveys and analyzes Yiddish fiction, poetry, and drama of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Readings include several works of the classic Yiddish writers, but the primary focus is on works by succeeding generations of modernist writers. Taught in English using texts in translation. Weekly additional section for students with advanced reading knowledge of Yiddish who elect to read some texts in the original. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 159a Modern Jewish Philosophy
[ hum ]

Surveys the contours of modern Jewish philosophy by engaging some of its most important themes and voices, competing Jewish inflections of and responses to rationalism, romanticism, idealism, existentialism, and nihilism. This provides the conceptual road signs of the course as we traverse the winding byways of Jewish philosophy from Baruch Spinoza to Emanuel Levinas. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 160a Jewish Feminisms
[ deis-us hum ]

Examines the role of Jewish women in the broader feminist movement and the impact of feminist theory and activism on Jewish thought, law, ritual practice and communal norms in the 20th and 21st century. We will explore classic feminist critiques and transformations of traditional Judaism and examine contemporary controversies involving issues such as equality under Jewish ritual and family law, sex segregation in public life, inclusion of Jewish People of Color and of LGBTQ Jews and antisemitism in the women's movement. Usually offered every year.

NEJS 160b Legal Controversies in Israeli History
[ djw hum nw ]

Investigates Israeli history, politics, and culture through the lens of major legal controversies including the tension between "Jewish" and "democratic," the Shoah in Israeli history, the Occupied Territories, legislation of family life and religious practice and more. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 162a American Judaism
[ hum ss wi ]

American Judaism from the earliest settlement to the present, with particular emphasis on the various streams of American Judaism. Judaism's place in American religion and comparisons to Judaism in other countries. Usually offered every year.

NEJS 162b It Couldn't Happen Here: American Antisemitism in Historical Perspective
[ hum ]

A close examination of three American anti-Semitic episodes: U.S. Grant's expulsion of the Jews during the Civil War, the Leo Frank case, and the publication of Henry Ford's The International Jew. What do these episodes teach us about anti-semitic prejudice, about Jews, and about America as a whole? Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 164a Judaism Confronts America
[ hum wi ]

Examines, through a close reading of selected primary sources, central issues and tensions in American Jewish life, paying attention to their historical background and to issues of Jewish law. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 166a Carnal Israel: Exploring Jewish Sexuality from Talmudic Times to the Present
[ hum ]

Explores the construction of Jewish sexuality from Talmudic times to the present. Themes include rabbinic views of sex, niddah, illicit relations, masculinity, medieval erotic poetry, Ashkenazi and Sephardic sexual practices, and sexual symbolism in mystic literature; the discourse on sex, race, and nationalism in Europe; debates about masculinity, sexual orientation, and stereotypes in America and Israel. Usually offered every third year.

NEJS 166b Jewish Identities: Navigating the Boundaries of Religion, Race, Ethnicity, and Nationality
[ hum ]

Explores the central question, 'who is a Jew' and what constitutes Jewishness from late antiquity times to the present through an interdisciplinary lens. Beginning with the rabbinic texts that sought to construct and strengthen the boundaries between Jews and non-Jews, the class will explore thorny questions about identities through the lens of religion, ethnicity and race, culture, nationality, and science. Usually offered every year.

NEJS 169b From Sunday Schools to Birthright: History of American Jewish Education
[ hum ]

Empowers students to articulate a reality-based, transformative vision of Jewish education that is grounded in an appreciation for the history and sociology of American Jewish education. It will familiarize students with and contextualize the present Jewish educational landscape, through the use of historical case studies and current research, encouraging students to view the field from an evolutionary perspective. The seminar will address Jewish education in all its forms, including formal and informal settings (e.g., schools, camps, youth groups, educational tourism). Usually offered every third year.

NEJS 171a Teaching and Learning Modern Jewish History, the Holocaust, and Israel
[ hum ]

Examines why we teach history, how students learn history, the uses of public history, and what history means within a Jewish context. Special emphasis is placed on teaching with primary sources, digital resources, and oral history. Includes an oral history project in cooperation with the Jewish Women's Archive and Keshet (a Jewish LGBTQ organization), and an introduction to Holocaust education with Facing History and Ourselves. Usually offered every third year.

NEJS 171b Tikkun Olam/Repairing the World: Service and Social Justice in Theory and Practice
[ hum ]

What does tikkun olam mean? What is a life of service? What should one learn from service-learning? Does "social justice" actually do any good? This is a service-learning course, and includes a service component in the field. Usually offered every third year.

NEJS 172a Accelerated Talmud
[ hum ]

Prerequisite: NEJS 25a and NEJS 126a, or permission of the instructor. May be repeated once for credit.

Advances students’ abilities to navigate the legal concepts and argumentation of the Babylonian Talmud in its original languages, using an unvocalized, unpunctuated text. Students will improve their skills analyzing, discussing, and clarifying Talmudic statements, which are composed in technical, abbreviated form. They will consider the relation between laws and narratives, and explain how the Talmud develops legal concepts through dialogue, proofs and other methods. The course draws on a traditional form of Talmudic study, interested in broad-based expertise, called “beqiut.” Students learn an array of concepts through steady progression through one chapter of a Talmudic tractate, deepening their knowledge by acquiring familiarity with additional Talmudic and Biblical texts as they arise. The Talmudic tractate and chapter vary depending on the year and semester offered. Students will be expected to prepare course material in its original languages with the aid of dictionaries before class and be able to discuss it in class; partnered preparation is strongly encouraged and will be facilitated by the instructor. Usually offered every year.

NEJS 173a Trauma and Violence in Israeli Literature and Film
[ deis-us djw fl hum oc ]

Taught in Hebrew.

Explores trauma and violence in Israeli Literature, film, and art. Focuses on man-made disasters, war and terrorism, sexual and family violence, and murder and suicide, and examines their relation to nationalism, Zionism, gender, and sexual identity. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 174a Minorities and Others in Israeli Literature and Culture
[ djw fl hum ]

Taught in Hebrew.

An exploration of poetics and identity in modern Hebrew literature. By offering a feminist and psychoanalytic reading of various Hebrew texts, this seminar explores questions of personal and national identity, otherness, visibility, and marginality in the Israeli context. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 174b Israeli Women Writers on War and Peace
[ deis-us djw fl hum oc ]

Taught in Hebrew.

An exploration of nationalism and gender in Modern Hebrew literature. By discussing various Hebrew texts and Israeli works of art and film, this course explores women's relationship to Zionism, war, peace, the state, politics, and processes of cultural production. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 176b Jewish Graphic Novels
[ hum ]

Examines the complex genre of the Jewish graphic novel. Explores Jewish artists' use of graphic narratives to grapple with issues of acculturation, trauma, and identity. Special focus on the reconfiguration of Jewish gender identities. Structured around primary texts. Secondary readings provide historical context and theoretical analysis. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 177a The Holocaust in Israeli and Jewish Literature
[ hum ]

Taught in English.

A broad survey of Holocaust writings in Modern Jewish literature. Examines the psychological, social, moral, and aesthetic challenges involved in representing the Holocaust in Israeli, American, and European context through literary texts, theoretical research, works of art, and film. Usually offered every third year.

NEJS 178a Love, Sex, and Power in Israeli Culture
[ djw fl hum ]

Taught in Hebrew. May be repeated for credit.

Explores questions of romance, gender, marriage, and jealousy in the Israeli context by offering a feminist and psychoanalytic reading of Hebrew texts, works of art, and film. Usually offered every third year.

NEJS 180b Israeli Film, Literature, and Culture
[ deis-us djw hum ]

Taught in English.

Surveys the development of Israeli literature and culture over the past 100 years and includes selections of poetry and prose from a wide range of writers. The course aims to illuminate what makes Hebrew literature distinct as well as investigate the themes, symbols, and subject matter that have come to constitute its central concerns since the early 20th century. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 181a Jews on Screen: From "Cohen's Fire Sale" to the Coen Brothers
[ hum ]

Open to all students.

Survey course focusing on moving images of Jews and Jewish life in fiction and factual films. Includes early Russian and American silents, home movies of European Jews, Yiddish feature films, Israeli cinema, independent films, and Hollywood classics. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 181b Film and the Holocaust
[ hum ]

Open to all students.

Examines the medium of film, propaganda, documentary, and narrative fiction relevant to the history of the Holocaust. The use of film to shape, justify, document, interpret, and imagine the Holocaust. Beginning with the films produced by the Third Reich, the course includes films produced immediately after the events, as well as contemporary feature films. The focus will be how the film medium, as a medium, works to (re)present meaning(s). Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 183b Global Jewish Literature
[ hum wi ]

May not be taken for credit by students who took NEJS 171a in prior years.

Introduces important works of modern Jewish literature, graphic fiction, and film. Taking a comparative approach, it addresses major themes in contemporary Jewish culture, interrogates the "Jewishness" of the works and considers issues of language, poetics, and culture significant to Jewish identity. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 184b Disability Cultures: Art, Film and Literature of People with Disabilities
[ deis-us djw hum oc ]

Explores cultural representations of disability in Israel, Europe, and the US. By focusing on literature, film, dance, and visual art, it explores physical, mental, and emotional disability experiences, and their relations to gender, sexuality, nationalism, and identity politics. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 186a Introduction to the Qur'an
[ djw dl hum nw ]

Traces the history of the Qur'an as text, its exegesis, and its role in inter-religious polemics, law, theology, and politics. Examines the role of the Qur'an in Islamic teachings and its global impact. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 189a The Arab-Israeli Conflict
[ hum ss ]

Consideration of Arab-Jewish relations, attitudes, and interactions from 1880 to the present. Emphasis on social factors and intellectual currents and their impact on politics. Examines the conflict within its international setting. Usually offered every third year.

NEJS 189b Formative Moments in the Disputed Land of Israel-Palestine
[ djw hum ]

Examines the history of Israel/Palestine during the 20th century by focusing on several formative moments that took place pre and post 1948. It reexamines key issues that emerged around each of those events and explores the implications they had on the formation of Israeli and Palestinian societies. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 191a Biblical Narratives in the Qur'an
[ hum ]

The Qur'an tells versions of stories known from the Hebrew Bible, New Testament, and post-biblical Jewish and Christian literature. Compares the Qur'anic renditions with those circulating in the Near East with a focus on major characters (Abraham, Moses, Jesus, Mary, etc.). Usually offered every third year.

NEJS 192a Islamic Ethics: Theory and Applications
[ djw hum ]

Explores Islamic thinking and practices related to ethics by examining relevant discussions and debates in Islamic law, theology, Sufism, philosophy, and literary works. We answer broad questions such as the nature of moral obligation, the provenance of moral and ethical norms, and the practical means for living an ethical life. The final month of the course applies these theoretical foundations to practical ethical questions including contemporary debates surrounding economic justice; reproduction, end of life, and abortion; race and racism in Islam; and animal rights and the environment. Special one-time offering, spring 2023.

NEJS 192b Power, Morality and Identity: Jewish Political Thought
[ hum ]

Though Jews were stateless for centuries, they had many political institutions and thought deeply about basic questions of politics, authority, ethics and power. In modernity, the age of emancipation, revolution, democracy, nationalism, Holocaust and Zionism, those ideas and institutions were put to new, shattering tests. All readings are in English with a HEBREW option for those who would like. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 194b Sufism: Mystical Traditions in Classical and Modern Islam
[ hum nw ]

An examination of the teaching and practices of the Sufi tradition. Explores the foundations of Sufism, its relation to other aspects of Islam, the development of Sufi teachings in both poetry and prose, and the manner in which Sufism is practiced in lands as diverse as Egypt, Turkey, Iran, India, Malaysia, and Europe. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 195b Early Islamic History from Muhammad to the Mongols
[ hum nw ]

Introduces Islamic history from the birth of Islam in the 7th century to the Mongol invasions of the 13th century. Students will examine trends in political, social, and intellectual history, focusing on three main periods; Islamic Origins, The High Caliphate, and Fragmentation/Efflorescence. Readings will include primary sources in translation, as well as academic analyses from traditional, critical, and revisionist perspectives. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 196a Cultural Contact Zones in Israel-Palestine
[ djw hum ]

Explores the different ways in which boundaries have been constructed and imagined in the cultural scene in Israel/Palestine from the beginning of the 20th century to the present. It traces different cultural arenas that emerged during this period using examples from literature, cinema, music and visual arts – exploring the Hebrew-Arabic contact zones, religious and secular borderlands, the national divide between Jews and Arabs, and the fluid borderland across the gender divide. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 196b Mamluks to Modernity: Islamic History 1300-2000
[ hum ]

Explores the political and cultural history of early modern and modern Muslim societies including the Mongols, Timurids, Mamluks, and the Gunpowder empires (Ottomans, Safavids and Mughals). It concludes with the transformations in the Middle East in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries: European colonialism, modernization, and the rise of the nation-states. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 197a Islamic Law: Classical Foundations to Modern Applications
[ djw hum ]

Examines the development, theories, and debates of Islamic Law, from its classical foundations to its modern applications. The course will present critical understanding of the history and practice of Islamic law while also giving students the framework and resources with which they can engage in modern discussions about Islamic Law. We will begin with the early development of Islamic Law and its interpretive theories, the rise and spread of the classical legal schools, and the emergence of pre-modern legal institutions such as legal schools and courts. We will also delve into the content, morality, and evolving socio-cultural contexts of Islamic law. We will discuss the impact of colonialism and modernity on Islamic legal discourses and institution. We will conclude the course by exploring several case studies of “Islamic law” in action in society and examine its interactions with the American legal system. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 198a Islam and the West
[ hum ]

Explores various aspects of the interaction between “Islam” and “the West,” both historically and in contemporary times. Approximately half the course will examine the period from the rise of Islam in the 7th century until the age of Western colonialism in the 19th century, while the second half will concentrate on the modern and contemporary periods. Usually offered every third year.

NEJS/WGS 110a Sexual Violence in Film and Culture
[ deis-us djw hum oc ]

Explores the effects of sexualized violence in society. While exploring representations of gender-based sexual violence in documentaries and features, stand-up comedy, memoirs, poetry, and visual art, this course will offer a critical discussion on Rape Culture in the 21st century, with particular attention to the intersections of gender, race, sexuality, class, and disability in the construction of sexual violence. Usually offered every second year.

GSAS 360c Article Publication Workshop

Full year course. Yields two credits per semester. Offered exclusively on a credit/no credit basis. May be repeated for credit. Students should check with their departments about whether or not the course will fulfill any degree requirements.

Open to PhD, including ABD, and MA students in all Humanities, Arts, and Humanistic Social Sciences graduate programs.

This proseminar/workshop will meet every other week and introduce graduate students to the larger philosophy, as well as the nuts and bolts, of academic publication. Each student should come to the class with an academic journal article project in mind and aim to send out the article to a journal by the end of the year (or earlier!). We will workshop the papers in class, and peer review will be an essential component of coursework. Discussions will be general as well as field-specific.

HRNS/NEJ 261a Strategies and Quandaries in Contemporary Leadership

Examines models of leadership and challenges facing leaders in contemporary organizational life, through Jewish history and culture placed in conversation with other cultural and disciplinary perspectives from critical race studies, women's and gender studies, disability studies, and indigenous studies. Classes will be discussion-based, centered around the productive contrasts and interactions between the readings, and the contemporary practices and experiences of students' leadership. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 206a Advanced Northwest Semitics

Continued reading of various Northwest Semitic texts (Ugaritic, Phoenician, Aramaic, Moabite, Deir Allah, Hebrew inscriptions, etc.) with attention to historical grammar and historical context. Topics vary from year to year; may be repeated for credit. Usually offered every year.

NEJS 221a Reading Yiddish Literary and Historical Texts

Prerequisite: YDSH 30a or 40b.

Examines modern Yiddish literary and historical texts. Introduces genres and texts of Yiddish literature and scholarship in modern Jewish history. Journalistic texts are studied to prepare students to conduct research using the Yiddish press. Grammatical concepts are reviewed as needed. Usually offered every year.

NEJS 231a Graduate Proseminar: Historiography and Jewish Studies

Offers Master's and Doctoral students the opportunity to engage foundational elements of modern Jewish history and historiography on an advanced level while also exploring changes in relevant fields that have emerged over the last decade or two. The purpose of the course is to provide graduate students with a structure to build their own reading lists for comprehensive exams and be able to situate their own research fields within broader patterns of modern Jewish history and historiography. Usually offered every year.

NEJS 232a Research and Archival Methods in Modern Jewish History

A critical examination of research methodologies in the study of modern and American Jewish history, with special attention to primary sources and new historical approaches. Usually offered every third year.

NEJS 235b Philosophy of Jewish Education
What should Jewish education be? What are its legitimate goals? What are the competing visions of an educated Jew, and how do these influence educational practice? How is Jewish education similar to and different from other kinds of religious education? Usually offered every second year.
Jon Levisohn

NEJS 236a Seminar on Modern Jewish and Israeli History and Historiography

Strongly recommended for all graduate students in Judaic studies.

Aims to introduce students to the emergence of history as an academic discipline in the nineteenth century and to provide some acquaintance with the classics of historical scholarship. It will also examine the emergence of Jewish historiography and analyze critically the works of the major Jewish historians. In addition, it will assess the contributions of the "new" historians to historical understanding and see how far their insights can aid in the study of key problems in Jewish history. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 247b The Craft of Holocaust Research: Questions, Sources, Interpretations, and Debates

Provides an introduction to the emergence and development of Holocaust studies as an academic discipline. It will acquaint students with the main questions and sources of the historical scholarship and teach them to critically analyze the works of the major historians of the Holocaust. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 259a Renaissance, Revolution, Redemption: Readings in Early Zionist Thought

Explores the writings of a fascinating group of figures - including Bialik, Brenner, Gordon, Kook Rachel - poised on the cusp of traditional Jewish society and the nascent Zionist revolution. They explored the dilemmas of Jewish identity and modern politics and philosophy with great literary power and intellectual intensity. Usually offered every third year.

NEJS 263b Colloquium in American Jewish History

Examines major themes in the historiography of American Jewry. Readings span a broad range of themes, chronological eras, and historical approaches, including Colonial America, waves of immigration, developments in the diverse wings of Judaism, changes in Jewish educational strategies, and the impact of the Holocaust and Holocaust studies on American Judaism. Usually offered every third year.

NEJS 271c Teaching and Learning Modern Jewish History, the Holocaust, and Israel

May be repeated once for credit with permission of the instructor. Examines why we teach history, how students learn history, the uses of public history, and what history means within a Jewish context. Special emphasis is placed on teaching with primary sources, digital resources, and oral history. Includes an oral history project in cooperation with the Jewish Women's Archive and Keshet (a Jewish LGBTQ organization), and an introduction to Holocaust education with Facing History and Ourselves. Usually offered every year.

NEJS 288a Dissertation Writing Seminar for PhD Students

A writing seminar for NEJS PhD students drafting and editing their dissertations or dissertation proposals. Students will regularly submit substantial writing and constructively critique one another's work, and they will explore and discuss traditional and digital writing and researching strategies. Usually offered every year.

NEJS 295a Readings for Master's Capstone

NEJS 296a Independent Study

Specific sections for individual faculty members as requested.

NEJS 297a Internship

NEJS 298a Directed Research for Master's Project

Specific sections for individual faculty members as requested.

NEJS 299a Directed Research for Master's Thesis

Specific sections for individual faculty members as requested.

NEJS 319a Readings in Near Eastern and Judaic Studies

Staff

ARBC 10a Beginning Arabic I

Yields six semester-hour credits towards rate of work and graduation. Six class hours per week.

A first course in literary Arabic, covering essentials of grammar, reading, pronunciation, translation, and composition. A grade of C- or higher in ARBC 10a is required to take ARBC 20b. Usually offered every year.

ARBC 20b Beginning Arabic II

Prerequisite: A grade of C- or higher in ARBC 10a or the equivalent. Yields six semester-hour credits towards rate of work and graduation. Six class hours per week.

Continuation of ARBC 10a. A grade of C- or higher in ARBC 20b is required to take a 30-level ARBC course. Usually offered every year.

ARBC 30a Intermediate Arabic I
[ fl ]

Prerequisite: A grade of C- or higher in ARBC 20B or the equivalent. Yields six semester-hour credits towards rate of work and graduation. Six class hours per week.

Continuation of ARBC 10a and 20b. Study of more advanced grammatical and syntactical forms, reading, speaking, composition and translation. A grade of C- or higher in ARBC 30a is required to take any higher-level course. Usually offered every year.

ARBC 40b Intermediate Arabic II
[ fl hum ]

Prerequisite: A grade of C- or higher in ARBC 30a or the equivalent. Four class hours per week.

Continuation of ARBC 30a. A grade of C- or higher in ARBC 40b is required to take ARBC 103a. Usually offered every year.

ARBC 98a Independent Study

ARBC 103a Lower Advanced Arabic
[ fl hum ]

Prerequisite: A grade of C- or higher in ARBC 40b or the equivalent. Four class-hours per week.

Designed to help the student attain advanced proficiency in reading, writing, speaking, and understanding. The syllabus includes selections from modern texts representing a variety of styles and genres, advanced composition, and sustained development of oral-aural proficiency in Modern Standard Arabic. A grade of C- or higher in ARBC 103a is required to take ARBC 103b. Usually offered every year.

ARBC 103b Middle Advanced Arabic: Contemporary Arab Media
[ fl hum ]

Prerequisite: A grade of C- or higher in ARBC 103a or the equivalent. Four class hours per week.

Continuation of ARBC 103a. Intensive honing primarily of oral-aural skills and vocabulary building with concentration on the spoken media of the contemporary Arab world. Review and reinforcement of major grammatical topics as needed. Usually offered every year.

ARBC 106a Advanced Arabic I: Contemporary Arabic Literature
[ fl hum ]

Prerequisite: A grade of C- or higher in ARBC 103b or the equivalent. Four class hours per week. May be repeated for credit.

Develops advanced reading competence through a variety of modern literary texts focusing on contemporary Arab society, culture, and intellectual life. Continued solidification of advanced grammar and style with application through frequent writing assignments, both analytical and creative. Class conducted entirely in Arabic. Usually offered every year.

ARBC 106b Advanced Arabic II: Classical Arabic & Islamic Literature
[ fl hum ]

Prerequisite: A grade of C- or higher in ARBC 106a or the equivalent. Four class hours per week. May be repeated for credit.

Continuation of ARBC 106a. Develops advanced competence in reading and understanding classical texts, including a systematic introduction to some of the grammatical features typical of this genre. Readings include a variety of materials ' including poetry ' related to classical Arabic and Islamic literature, religion, history, and culture. Usually offered every year.

HBRW 10a Beginning Hebrew

Four class hours per week with additional half an hour to practice speaking skills.

For students with no previous knowledge and those with a minimal background. Intensive training in the basics of Hebrew grammar, listening comprehension, speaking, reading, and writing. Usually offered every semester.

HBRW 19a Beginning Hebrew: Honors

Four class hours per week with additional half an hour to practice speaking skills.

A beginner course for those students with some previous exposure to Hebrew. Builds upon the initial exposure, continuing to teach the basics of grammar, vocabulary, speaking, and writing. Usually offered every fall.

HBRW 20b Intermediate Hebrew

Prerequisite: HBRW 10a or HBRW 19a or the equivalent as determined by placement examination. Four class hours per week with additional half an hour to practice speaking skills.

Continuation of HBRW 10a, employing the same methods. Intensive training in Hebrew grammar, listening, comprehension, speaking, reading, and writing. Several sections offered every semester.

HBRW 34a Intermediate Hebrew II: Aspects of Israeli Culture
[ fl ]

Prerequisite: Any 20-level Hebrew course or the equivalent as determined by placement examination. Four class hours per week with additional half an hour to practice speaking skills.

A continuation of HBRW 20b. A beginner-intermediate level course that helps students strengthen their reading, writing, listening and speaking skills. Contemporary cultural aspects will be stressed and a variety of materials will be used. Usually offered every semester.

HBRW 41a Intensive Conversations about Israeli Culture
[ fl hum ]

Prerequisite: Any 30-level Hebrew course or the equivalent.

An Advanced Intermediate Hebrew course for students who have acquired an intermediate level of Hebrew and who wish to develop greater fluency in conversation with emphasis on aspects of Israeli Culture. Four class hours per week with additional half an hour to practice speaking skills. Usually offered every second year.

HBRW 44b Advanced Intermediate Hebrew: Israeli Culture and Media
[ fl hum ]

Prerequisite: Any 30-level Hebrew course or the equivalent. Four class hours per week with additional half an hour to practice speaking skills.

Reinforces the acquired skills of speaking, listening comprehension, reading, and writing at the intermediate level. Contemporary cultural aspects are stressed; conversational Hebrew and reading of selections from modern literature. Usually offered every semester.

HBRW 97a Senior Essay

Usually offered every semester.

HBRW 97b Senior Essay

Usually offered every semester.

HBRW 98a Independent Study

Usually offered every year in the fall.

HBRW 98b Independent Study

Signature of the instructor required.

Usually offered every year in the spring.

HBRW 121a Life Challenges and Post Trauma of an Israeli Family through a TV Series
[ fl oc ]

Prerequisite: Any 30-level Hebrew course or permission of the instructor.

An advanced-intermediate conversation course for students who wish to improve their speaking skills. Role playing, vocabulary building, and guided speaking activities develop conversational skills for various situations. Reading and discussion of contemporary texts, based on popular Israeli television series, assist in vocabulary building. Usually offered every year.

HBRW 121b Life Challenges of an Israeli Family through a TV Series
[ fl hum oc ]

Prerequisite: Any 30-level Hebrew course or permission of the instructor.

An advanced-intermediate conversation course for students who wish to improve their speaking skills. Role playing, vocabulary building, and guided speaking activities develop conversational skills for various situations. Reading and discussion of contemporary texts, based on the popular Israeli TV series, "Yellow Peppers", assist in vocabulary building. Usually offered every second year.

HBRW 124a Hebrew for Business, Doing Business in Start-Up Nation
[ dl fl wi ]

Prerequisite: Any 30-level Hebrew course or permission of the instructor. Does not meet the requirement in the school of humanities.

Provides students with tools and competence to deal with the Israeli business community. For advanced-intermediate Hebrew students who wish to gain cultural understanding and business language speaking skills. Usually offered every second year.

HBRW 144a Plays and Drama in Israeli Society
[ ca djw fl hum oc wi ]

Prerequisite: Any 30-level Hebrew course or permission of the instructor.

Focuses on critical reading and analysis of authentic and contemporary Israeli short plays and studying the comparison between plays in Israel and those in the U.S. We will examine theories in aspects of drama and implement drama techniques including improvisation, movement, and creative expression. Readings cover topics such as social diversity and justice, as well as human rights and awareness of world identities. The course culminates in the writing of an original scene or one-act play in Hebrew.

HBRW 146a The Voices of Jerusalem
[ djw fl hum wi ]

Prerequisite: Any 30-level Hebrew course or permission of the instructor.

For advanced-intermediate students who wish to enhance their language proficiency and work toward improving fluency and communication through analysis of selected materials covering literature, poetry, history, politics, and art that depict the unique tradition and culture of Jerusalem. Usually offered every fall.

HBRW 161b What’s up in Israel Today?: Diverse Perspectives in Film and Media
[ fl hum wi ]

Prerequisite: Any 30-level Hebrew course or permission of the instructor.

In this course, Israeli films, media, TV shows (e.g., Srugim ), and online resources will be used to promote discussion, enhance oral communication skills, and also broaden cultural awareness and understanding of diverse societal perspectives. Usually offered every second year.

HBRW 164b Israeli Theater Within the Framework of U.S Cultures
[ ca deis-us djw fl hum oc wi ]

Prerequisite: Any 30-level Hebrew course or permission of the instructor.

Promotes cultural awareness and global understanding through the reading and analysis of plays. Student creativity develops through participation in acting and creative writing assignments. Usually offered every second year.

HBRW 167b The Sleeping Beauty: The Revival of Modern Hebrew
[ dl fl hum ]

Prerequisite: Any 40-level Hebrew course or permission of the instructor.

An advanced course that surveys the origins of the Hebrew language and its development throughout the centuries, focusing on its major stages (biblical, rabbinic, medieval, and modern). Explores the unique phenomenon of its revival as a spoken language and its adaptation to the modern world. Usually offered every second year.

HBRW 170a Take I: Israeli Cinema and American Culture
[ deis-us djw fl hum wi ]

Prerequisite: Any 40-level Hebrew course or permission of the instructor.

Introduces students to various aspects of Israeli society as portrayed in Israeli films and television. In addition to viewing films, students will be asked to read Hebrew background materials, to participate in class discussions, and to write review and criticism about the films. The course prepares students to deepen their analytical skills in order to gain broader understanding and intercultural knowledge as well as transform their personal and global thinking. Usually offered every second year.

HBRW 303a Readings in Assessing the Learning and Teaching of Hebrew

NEJS 173a Trauma and Violence in Israeli Literature and Film
[ deis-us djw fl hum oc ]

Taught in Hebrew.

Explores trauma and violence in Israeli Literature, film, and art. Focuses on man-made disasters, war and terrorism, sexual and family violence, and murder and suicide, and examines their relation to nationalism, Zionism, gender, and sexual identity. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 174a Minorities and Others in Israeli Literature and Culture
[ djw fl hum ]

Taught in Hebrew.

An exploration of poetics and identity in modern Hebrew literature. By offering a feminist and psychoanalytic reading of various Hebrew texts, this seminar explores questions of personal and national identity, otherness, visibility, and marginality in the Israeli context. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 174b Israeli Women Writers on War and Peace
[ deis-us djw fl hum oc ]

Taught in Hebrew.

An exploration of nationalism and gender in Modern Hebrew literature. By discussing various Hebrew texts and Israeli works of art and film, this course explores women's relationship to Zionism, war, peace, the state, politics, and processes of cultural production. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 178a Love, Sex, and Power in Israeli Culture
[ djw fl hum ]

Taught in Hebrew. May be repeated for credit.

Explores questions of romance, gender, marriage, and jealousy in the Israeli context by offering a feminist and psychoanalytic reading of Hebrew texts, works of art, and film. Usually offered every third year.

YDSH 10a Beginning Yiddish

Meets for four class hours per week.

The first of a four-semester sequence, this course introduces basic Yiddish grammar. Students also develop reading, writing, and conversational skills. Yiddish songs, poetry, and folklore are incorporated throughout. Usually offered every year.

YDSH 20b Continuing Yiddish

Prerequisite: YDSH 10a or permission of the instructor. Meets for four class hours per week.

Continues the study of grammar begun in YDSH 10a. Writing and speaking skills receive more emphasis than in the previous course, and students begin to build vocabulary and reading skills that will enable them to comprehend more complex texts. The history and culture of Eastern European Jewry are studied through Yiddish songs, films, and literature. Usually offered every year.

YDSH 30a Intermediate Yiddish
[ fl wi ]

Prerequisite: YDSH 20b or permission of the instructor. Meets for four class hours per week.

Third in a four-semester sequence. Students continue to develop reading skills as they sample texts from Yiddish prose fiction, folklore, and memoir literature. Grammatical instruction is more contextualized than in the previous courses. Speaking and writing skills are strongly emphasized. Usually offered every year.

YDSH 40b Advanced Intermediate Yiddish
[ fl hum ]

Prerequisite: YDSH 30a or permission of the instructor. Meets for four class hours per week.

The fourth in a four-semester sequence, this course is a continuation of YDSH 30a. Students discuss assigned texts in Yiddish. Written assignments emphasize the development of fluency and grammatical accuracy. Skills for using Yiddish in academic research are taught. Usually offered every year.

YDSH 98b Independent Study

Yields half course credit. Usually offered every year.

HBRW 167b The Sleeping Beauty: The Revival of Modern Hebrew
[ dl fl hum ]

Prerequisite: Any 40-level Hebrew course or permission of the instructor.

An advanced course that surveys the origins of the Hebrew language and its development throughout the centuries, focusing on its major stages (biblical, rabbinic, medieval, and modern). Explores the unique phenomenon of its revival as a spoken language and its adaptation to the modern world. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 10a Biblical Hebrew Grammar and Texts
[ dl fl hum ]

Prerequisite: HBRW 20b or the equivalent as determined by placement examination.

An accelerated grammar course in Biblical Hebrew. Students engage with biblical Hebrew texts from the first class. They build from words and phrases to a literary translation and grammatical analysis of a student’s choice of biblical Hebrew narrative. Topics include: phonology and the Tiberian pronunciation tradition, syllables and stress patterns, nouns, articles, conjunctions, pronouns, adjectives, possession, prepositions, the prefix and suffix conjugations, derived stems, tense and aspect, volitives, infinitives, and irregular roots. The class uses music and digital tools to aid memorization. It builds students’ vocabularies and understanding of the unusual features of biblical grammar and syntax compared with other semitic languages and modern Hebrew.

NEJS 123a Maps, Graphs and Timelines: Technology and Design in Historical Research
[ dl hum oc ]

Learn the practical skills to represent data digitally as graphs, maps, timelines and other models. Students will develop their own research projects in topics of their interest and learn to think critically about the opportunities and pitfalls that digital methods pose, for scholarship, inclusion and for social justice. The course will include extensive practical instruction. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 137b Dreams and Dream Interpretation in Jewish Thought
[ dl hum ]

Jewish culture has had traditions about the origins of dreams, how to interpret them, and even how to control them, for millennia. This course takes students into sources of Jewish thoughts on dreams, answering these questions: Do dreams come from the dreamer or somewhere outside the dreamer – what happened to them, from forces beyond their control, gods, demons, angels? Do dreams tell the future? Can dreamers control their dreams? Can dreams be harnessed for good, or to do harm? Who is a trustworthy dream interpreter? How do dreams manifest in the body? The texts will include guidance for dream-healing from the Dead Sea Scroll community, a handbook on dream interpretation in the Talmud, texts from medieval Europe, and a handbook on dream interpretation by a Turkish rabbi, which gained immense popularity across the Jewish world in the 16th century. Dreams open big topics in Jewish thought including prophecy, God’s power and effect in the world, free will, time, and the soul, and big ideas in human inquiry – our connections to others, our sense of self, and the mystery of our minds. Usually offered every third year.

NEJS 186a Introduction to the Qur'an
[ djw dl hum nw ]

Traces the history of the Qur'an as text, its exegesis, and its role in inter-religious polemics, law, theology, and politics. Examines the role of the Qur'an in Islamic teachings and its global impact. Usually offered every second year.

HBRW 121a Life Challenges and Post Trauma of an Israeli Family through a TV Series
[ fl oc ]

Prerequisite: Any 30-level Hebrew course or permission of the instructor.

An advanced-intermediate conversation course for students who wish to improve their speaking skills. Role playing, vocabulary building, and guided speaking activities develop conversational skills for various situations. Reading and discussion of contemporary texts, based on popular Israeli television series, assist in vocabulary building. Usually offered every year.

HBRW 121b Life Challenges of an Israeli Family through a TV Series
[ fl hum oc ]

Prerequisite: Any 30-level Hebrew course or permission of the instructor.

An advanced-intermediate conversation course for students who wish to improve their speaking skills. Role playing, vocabulary building, and guided speaking activities develop conversational skills for various situations. Reading and discussion of contemporary texts, based on the popular Israeli TV series, "Yellow Peppers", assist in vocabulary building. Usually offered every second year.

HBRW 164b Israeli Theater Within the Framework of U.S Cultures
[ ca deis-us djw fl hum oc wi ]

Prerequisite: Any 30-level Hebrew course or permission of the instructor.

Promotes cultural awareness and global understanding through the reading and analysis of plays. Student creativity develops through participation in acting and creative writing assignments. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 25a Introduction to Talmud
[ hum oc ]

Prerequisite: A 30-level Hebrew course or the equivalent is recommended.

An introduction to Treatise Bava Metzia, on the subject of labor law. Topics include: payment for commuting time, eating on the job, benefits a worker can expect from their employer. The course introduces the Babylonian Talmud. Attention is paid to modes of argument, literary form, and development of the Talmudic text. No previous study of Talmud is presupposed. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 123a Maps, Graphs and Timelines: Technology and Design in Historical Research
[ dl hum oc ]

Learn the practical skills to represent data digitally as graphs, maps, timelines and other models. Students will develop their own research projects in topics of their interest and learn to think critically about the opportunities and pitfalls that digital methods pose, for scholarship, inclusion and for social justice. The course will include extensive practical instruction. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 123b Gender, Species, and Ethnicity in Early Judaism
[ djw hum oc ]

Being "human" is defined by distinguishing between and ordering different beings according to race, gender, disability and species. This privileges some in society while diminishing the value of others. This course introduces the main texts of rabbinic literature around fundamental questions of what is a legal "person" and what is not. Usually offered every year.

NEJS 153a Between Ecstasy and Community: Hasidism in Jewish Thought and History
[ hum oc ]

Explores Hasidism, from the 18th century until today, as one of the dynamic forces in Jewish life, mixing radicalism and reaction, theology, storytelling and music, thick community and wild individualism, deep conformity and spiritual abandon. Usually offered every third year.

NEJS 173a Trauma and Violence in Israeli Literature and Film
[ deis-us djw fl hum oc ]

Taught in Hebrew.

Explores trauma and violence in Israeli Literature, film, and art. Focuses on man-made disasters, war and terrorism, sexual and family violence, and murder and suicide, and examines their relation to nationalism, Zionism, gender, and sexual identity. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 174b Israeli Women Writers on War and Peace
[ deis-us djw fl hum oc ]

Taught in Hebrew.

An exploration of nationalism and gender in Modern Hebrew literature. By discussing various Hebrew texts and Israeli works of art and film, this course explores women's relationship to Zionism, war, peace, the state, politics, and processes of cultural production. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 184b Disability Cultures: Art, Film and Literature of People with Disabilities
[ deis-us djw hum oc ]

Explores cultural representations of disability in Israel, Europe, and the US. By focusing on literature, film, dance, and visual art, it explores physical, mental, and emotional disability experiences, and their relations to gender, sexuality, nationalism, and identity politics. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS/WGS 110a Sexual Violence in Film and Culture
[ deis-us djw hum oc ]

Explores the effects of sexualized violence in society. While exploring representations of gender-based sexual violence in documentaries and features, stand-up comedy, memoirs, poetry, and visual art, this course will offer a critical discussion on Rape Culture in the 21st century, with particular attention to the intersections of gender, race, sexuality, class, and disability in the construction of sexual violence. Usually offered every second year.

HBRW 124a Hebrew for Business, Doing Business in Start-Up Nation
[ dl fl wi ]

Prerequisite: Any 30-level Hebrew course or permission of the instructor. Does not meet the requirement in the school of humanities.

Provides students with tools and competence to deal with the Israeli business community. For advanced-intermediate Hebrew students who wish to gain cultural understanding and business language speaking skills. Usually offered every second year.

HBRW 144a Plays and Drama in Israeli Society
[ ca djw fl hum oc wi ]

Prerequisite: Any 30-level Hebrew course or permission of the instructor.

Focuses on critical reading and analysis of authentic and contemporary Israeli short plays and studying the comparison between plays in Israel and those in the U.S. We will examine theories in aspects of drama and implement drama techniques including improvisation, movement, and creative expression. Readings cover topics such as social diversity and justice, as well as human rights and awareness of world identities. The course culminates in the writing of an original scene or one-act play in Hebrew.

HBRW 146a The Voices of Jerusalem
[ djw fl hum wi ]

Prerequisite: Any 30-level Hebrew course or permission of the instructor.

For advanced-intermediate students who wish to enhance their language proficiency and work toward improving fluency and communication through analysis of selected materials covering literature, poetry, history, politics, and art that depict the unique tradition and culture of Jerusalem. Usually offered every fall.

HBRW 161b What’s up in Israel Today?: Diverse Perspectives in Film and Media
[ fl hum wi ]

Prerequisite: Any 30-level Hebrew course or permission of the instructor.

In this course, Israeli films, media, TV shows (e.g., Srugim ), and online resources will be used to promote discussion, enhance oral communication skills, and also broaden cultural awareness and understanding of diverse societal perspectives. Usually offered every second year.

HBRW 164b Israeli Theater Within the Framework of U.S Cultures
[ ca deis-us djw fl hum oc wi ]

Prerequisite: Any 30-level Hebrew course or permission of the instructor.

Promotes cultural awareness and global understanding through the reading and analysis of plays. Student creativity develops through participation in acting and creative writing assignments. Usually offered every second year.

HBRW 170a Take I: Israeli Cinema and American Culture
[ deis-us djw fl hum wi ]

Prerequisite: Any 40-level Hebrew course or permission of the instructor.

Introduces students to various aspects of Israeli society as portrayed in Israeli films and television. In addition to viewing films, students will be asked to read Hebrew background materials, to participate in class discussions, and to write review and criticism about the films. The course prepares students to deepen their analytical skills in order to gain broader understanding and intercultural knowledge as well as transform their personal and global thinking. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 115a Gender, Women, and Islam
[ hum wi ]

Tracks the evolving histories of women, gender, and sexuality in diverse Muslim societies. Examines how gendered norms and sexual mores were negotiated through law, ethics, and custom. We will compare and contrast these themes in diverse societies, from the Prophet Muhammad’s community in 7th century Arabia to North American Muslim communities in the 21st century. Usually offered every third year.

NEJS 128b Gender, Multiculturalism, and the Law
[ hum wi ]

May not be taken for credit by students who took PHIL 128a in prior years.

Can the state determine what children must learn in schools run by religious minorities? Should the state intervene to prevent forced or underage marriage if these practices are based on religious traditions? Can the state accommodate religiously-based demands to provide separate but equal public services to men and women, in prayer, on public transportation or at universities? These are some of the issues we will explore in this class through reading texts in law, political philosophy and modern Jewish thought. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 130b Denial and Desires: Gender and Sexuality in Early Christianity
[ hum wi ]

Formerly offered as NEJS 218a.

Investigates how Christians (1st-4th C.) contested and reshaped attitudes toward the family gender expectations (for nonbinary persons, men, and women), sexuality, and aging in cities, the countryside, and in monasteries. Readings include the New Testament, early Christian literature, and modern studies regarding the body, sexuality, and theological frameworks for defining how to maintain the Christian body. Usually offered every fourth year.
Darlene Brooks Hedstrom

NEJS 158b Yiddish Literature and the Modern Jewish Revolution
[ hum wi ]

Students with reading knowledge of Yiddish may elect to read the original texts.

Surveys and analyzes Yiddish fiction, poetry, and drama of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Readings include several works of the classic Yiddish writers, but the primary focus is on works by succeeding generations of modernist writers. Taught in English using texts in translation. Weekly additional section for students with advanced reading knowledge of Yiddish who elect to read some texts in the original. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 162a American Judaism
[ hum ss wi ]

American Judaism from the earliest settlement to the present, with particular emphasis on the various streams of American Judaism. Judaism's place in American religion and comparisons to Judaism in other countries. Usually offered every year.

NEJS 164a Judaism Confronts America
[ hum wi ]

Examines, through a close reading of selected primary sources, central issues and tensions in American Jewish life, paying attention to their historical background and to issues of Jewish law. Usually offered every second year.

YDSH 30a Intermediate Yiddish
[ fl wi ]

Prerequisite: YDSH 20b or permission of the instructor. Meets for four class hours per week.

Third in a four-semester sequence. Students continue to develop reading skills as they sample texts from Yiddish prose fiction, folklore, and memoir literature. Grammatical instruction is more contextualized than in the previous courses. Speaking and writing skills are strongly emphasized. Usually offered every year.

CLAS 119b Homer and the Hebrew Bible
[ hum ]

A study of the cultural history of the parallel canonization of Homer and the Hebrew Bible.

NEJS 10a Biblical Hebrew Grammar and Texts
[ dl fl hum ]

Prerequisite: HBRW 20b or the equivalent as determined by placement examination.

An accelerated grammar course in Biblical Hebrew. Students engage with biblical Hebrew texts from the first class. They build from words and phrases to a literary translation and grammatical analysis of a student’s choice of biblical Hebrew narrative. Topics include: phonology and the Tiberian pronunciation tradition, syllables and stress patterns, nouns, articles, conjunctions, pronouns, adjectives, possession, prepositions, the prefix and suffix conjugations, derived stems, tense and aspect, volitives, infinitives, and irregular roots. The class uses music and digital tools to aid memorization. It builds students’ vocabularies and understanding of the unusual features of biblical grammar and syntax compared with other semitic languages and modern Hebrew.

NEJS 12a Who Wrote the Bible?
[ hum ]

Open to all students.

The Hebrew Bible (Christian “Old Testament”) is a collection of diverse and powerful books that is central to worldwide social, political, and religious experience. Despite this centrality, there are innumerable misconceptions about how the Bible came into being and what it really says. In this class, we will ask and answer questions about the Bible’s historical context and ancient meaning, with a focus on matters of composition and early reception. Who wrote the Bible? When was it written? To what circumstances were its authors responding? Moving beyond the often impossible project of identifying complex texts with individual authors, we will use both biblical and ancient non-biblical sources to situate biblical authors with respect to chronology, geography, institutions, class, gender, and more. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 18a Understanding Evil and Human Destiny
[ hum ]

May not be taken for credit by students who took FYS 18a in prior years.

Designed to introduce students to some of the Western classics that deal with the impact of evil on human destiny. Suffering, justice, and death are studied in their relationship with God, the world, and history. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 107a Biblical Prophecy
[ hum ]

Studies ancient Israel and Judah’s early prophetic literature in translation, focusing on prophecy's ancient Assyrian context and the books of Isaiah, Hosea, Amos, and Nahum. Usually offered every third year.

NEJS 110b Psalms in the Hebrew Bible
[ hum ]

Prerequisites: NEJS 10a or 40-level HBRW course or permission of the instructor.

A close reading of selected Psalms in Biblical Hebrew, with study of their poetic, historical, and mythological features and contexts. Usually offered every third year.

NEJS 113a Biblical Aramaic in Context
[ hum ]

Prerequisite: HBRW 122a or b, NEJS 10a, or permission of the instructor.

A study of the Aramaic of the Bible (Daniel and Ezra), with contemporary papyri and inscriptions from ancient Egypt and Syria. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 115b Gender and Sexuality in the Bible
[ hum ]

Open to all students.

The Bible's depiction of gender, relationships, and social values in narrative, poetry, and law. Topics include the legal status of women, masculinity, prostitution, and how particular readings of the biblical text have shaped modern ideas about gender and sexuality. Usually offered every third year.

NEJS 116a Mesopotamian Mythology
[ hum nw ]

Open to all students.

An introduction to the religion, mythology, and thought of the ancient Near East. Usually offered every third year.

NEJS 122a Magic and Witchcraft in the Ancient Near East
[ hum nw ]

Examines magical literature, rituals, and beliefs in the ancient Near East. Topics such as demonology, illness, prayer, and exorcism are covered; special attention is paid to witchcraft. This course is organized around the close reading of ancient texts. Usually offered every third year.

NEJS 3a Religions of Abraham: Judaism, Christianity, Islam
[ hum ]

An introduction to the three major religions originating in the Near East: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Areas of focus include historical development, sacred texts, rituals, and interpretive traditions. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 6a Jewish History: From Ancient to Modern Worlds
[ hum nw ]

Surveys ideas, institutions, practices and events central to critical approaches to the Jewish past and present. Dynamic processes of cross-fertilization, and contestation between Jews and their surroundings societies will be looked, as well as tradition and change, continuity and rupture. No background in the subject matter is required. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 25a Introduction to Talmud
[ hum oc ]

Prerequisite: A 30-level Hebrew course or the equivalent is recommended.

An introduction to Treatise Bava Metzia, on the subject of labor law. Topics include: payment for commuting time, eating on the job, benefits a worker can expect from their employer. The course introduces the Babylonian Talmud. Attention is paid to modes of argument, literary form, and development of the Talmudic text. No previous study of Talmud is presupposed. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 27a Abortion, Reproduction, and Contraception in Jewish Law and Ethics
[ hum ]

Challenges the usual framing of abortion in the U.S. as a conflict between religious and secular, or murder versus personal autonomy, and challenges the predominant Christian framings of ethical considerations for abortion, by introducing Jewish sources from the bible until today. Students will gain detailed, critical, and historical information about how Jewish law and Jewish individuals have deliberated about ending pregnancies. The primary sources, along with guest speakers and academic scholarship, will empower students to weigh and propose alternative framings of abortion and reproduction in the U.S. Topics include: Is a fetus considered alive? What grounds do Jewish ethics offer for abortion? How does a pregnant woman or person’s mental and physical health affect a decision for abortion? Do Jewish ethics recognize rape to be grounds for abortion? Who should be the decision-maker on abortion? How should genetic testing affect decisions to terminate pregnancies? How greatly do modern Jewish legal voices range on abortion? Special one-time offering, fall 2022.

NEJS 104b Islam: Civilization and Institutions
[ hum nw ]

Provides a disciplined study of Islamic civilization from its origins to the modern period. Approaches the study from a humanities perspective. Topics covered will include the Qur'an, tradition, law, theology, politics, Islam and other religions, modern developments, and women in Islam. Usually offered every year.

NEJS 123b Gender, Species, and Ethnicity in Early Judaism
[ djw hum oc ]

Being "human" is defined by distinguishing between and ordering different beings according to race, gender, disability and species. This privileges some in society while diminishing the value of others. This course introduces the main texts of rabbinic literature around fundamental questions of what is a legal "person" and what is not. Usually offered every year.

NEJS 124b Divinity, Difference and Desire: An Introduction to Jewish Mysticism
[ hum ]

A study of Jewish mysticism through history. While investigating the nature of mysticism and the idea of mysticism itself and the transformation of key motifs of Judaism into a mystical key, the course will also be concerned with how to read a Jewish mystical text. All readings are in English. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 126a Intermediate Talmud
[ hum ]

Prerequisite: A 40-level Hebrew course or the equivalent.

Tractate Sanhedrin, chapter three, which deals with the issue of voluntary and compulsory arbitration and the binding nature of gambling agreements. Usually offered every third year.

NEJS 126b Agadic Literature: The Ethics of the Fathers with Avot d'Rabbi Nathan
[ hum ]

Prerequisite: A 40-level Hebrew course or the equivalent.

A study of the Mishnah Avot and its classical commentaries. Focuses primarily on literary and historical questions. Usually offered every fourth year.

NEJS 127a Second Temple and Rabbinic Judaism
[ hum ]

A survey course of the Second Temple and rabbinic periods focusing on the Bible, the Apocrypha, the Pseudepigrapha, the Dead Sea Scrolls, the writing of Josephus and Philo, the Mishnah, Talmud, and Midrash. Usually offered every third year.

NEJS 127b The History and Literature of the Jewish Liturgy
[ hum ]

Prerequisite: A 20-level Hebrew course or the equivalent.

A study of the literature, theology, and history of the daily and Sabbath liturgy. Emphasis will be placed on the interplay between literary structure and ideational content, along with discussion of the philosophical issues involved in prayer. Usually offered every third year.

NEJS 134a Debating Religion: Muslims, Christians, and Jews in Dialogue and Dispute
[ hum ]

A history of interreligious polemic, disputation, and dialogue among Jews, Christians, and Muslims from antiquity to modernity. The course highlights points of difference and contention among the traditions as well as the ways in which the practice of disputation played a formative role in the coevolution of those traditions. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 137b Dreams and Dream Interpretation in Jewish Thought
[ dl hum ]

Jewish culture has had traditions about the origins of dreams, how to interpret them, and even how to control them, for millennia. This course takes students into sources of Jewish thoughts on dreams, answering these questions: Do dreams come from the dreamer or somewhere outside the dreamer – what happened to them, from forces beyond their control, gods, demons, angels? Do dreams tell the future? Can dreamers control their dreams? Can dreams be harnessed for good, or to do harm? Who is a trustworthy dream interpreter? How do dreams manifest in the body? The texts will include guidance for dream-healing from the Dead Sea Scroll community, a handbook on dream interpretation in the Talmud, texts from medieval Europe, and a handbook on dream interpretation by a Turkish rabbi, which gained immense popularity across the Jewish world in the 16th century. Dreams open big topics in Jewish thought including prophecy, God’s power and effect in the world, free will, time, and the soul, and big ideas in human inquiry – our connections to others, our sense of self, and the mystery of our minds. Usually offered every third year.

NEJS 140b Gender, Ghettos, and the Geographies of Early Modern Jews
[ hum ]

Examines Jewish history and culture in early modern Europe: mass conversions on the Iberian peninsula, migrations, reconversions back to Judaism, the printing revolution, the Reformation and Counter Reformation, ghettos, gender, family, everyday life, material culture, communal structure, rabbinical culture, mysticism, magic, science, messianic movements, Hasidism, mercantilism, and early modern challenges to Judaism.

NEJS 144a Jews in the World of Islam
[ hum nw ]

Examines social and cultural history of Jewish communities in the Islamic world. Special emphasis is placed on the pre-modern Jewish communities. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 155a Maimonides: A Jewish Thinker in the Islamic World
[ hum ]

A study of the life, world, and thought of Moses Maimonides, the most significant Jewish intellectual of the Islamic world. This course traces his intellectual output in philosophy and Judaism, from its beginning in Islamic Spain to the mature works produced in Morocco and Egypt, in the context of the Arabic-Islamic milieu. Half of the course is dedicated to studying his Guide of the Perplexed, a Judeo-Arabic work that engages the demands of revealed religion and philosophical rationalism. Usually offered every third year.

NEJS 166a Carnal Israel: Exploring Jewish Sexuality from Talmudic Times to the Present
[ hum ]

Explores the construction of Jewish sexuality from Talmudic times to the present. Themes include rabbinic views of sex, niddah, illicit relations, masculinity, medieval erotic poetry, Ashkenazi and Sephardic sexual practices, and sexual symbolism in mystic literature; the discourse on sex, race, and nationalism in Europe; debates about masculinity, sexual orientation, and stereotypes in America and Israel. Usually offered every third year.

NEJS 166b Jewish Identities: Navigating the Boundaries of Religion, Race, Ethnicity, and Nationality
[ hum ]

Explores the central question, 'who is a Jew' and what constitutes Jewishness from late antiquity times to the present through an interdisciplinary lens. Beginning with the rabbinic texts that sought to construct and strengthen the boundaries between Jews and non-Jews, the class will explore thorny questions about identities through the lens of religion, ethnicity and race, culture, nationality, and science. Usually offered every year.

NEJS 172a Accelerated Talmud
[ hum ]

Prerequisite: NEJS 25a and NEJS 126a, or permission of the instructor. May be repeated once for credit.

Advances students’ abilities to navigate the legal concepts and argumentation of the Babylonian Talmud in its original languages, using an unvocalized, unpunctuated text. Students will improve their skills analyzing, discussing, and clarifying Talmudic statements, which are composed in technical, abbreviated form. They will consider the relation between laws and narratives, and explain how the Talmud develops legal concepts through dialogue, proofs and other methods. The course draws on a traditional form of Talmudic study, interested in broad-based expertise, called “beqiut.” Students learn an array of concepts through steady progression through one chapter of a Talmudic tractate, deepening their knowledge by acquiring familiarity with additional Talmudic and Biblical texts as they arise. The Talmudic tractate and chapter vary depending on the year and semester offered. Students will be expected to prepare course material in its original languages with the aid of dictionaries before class and be able to discuss it in class; partnered preparation is strongly encouraged and will be facilitated by the instructor. Usually offered every year.

NEJS 186a Introduction to the Qur'an
[ djw dl hum nw ]

Traces the history of the Qur'an as text, its exegesis, and its role in inter-religious polemics, law, theology, and politics. Examines the role of the Qur'an in Islamic teachings and its global impact. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 194b Sufism: Mystical Traditions in Classical and Modern Islam
[ hum nw ]

An examination of the teaching and practices of the Sufi tradition. Explores the foundations of Sufism, its relation to other aspects of Islam, the development of Sufi teachings in both poetry and prose, and the manner in which Sufism is practiced in lands as diverse as Egypt, Turkey, Iran, India, Malaysia, and Europe. Usually offered every second year.

ED/NEJS 170b Inside Jewish Education: Language, Literacy, and Reading
[ hum ]

Combines autobiography, classroom videotapes, curriculum investigation and fieldwork to explore the purposes, practices and effects of contemporary Jewish education in its many forms and venues. Usually offered every other year.

HIST 188b The Varieties of Religious Experience, 1350-1900
[ ss ]

How do you talk about religion after Darwin, when science has replaced religion as the authoritative discourse, but most people everywhere adhere to some sort of religious belief? By reading together The Varieties of Religious experience (1902) by William James. Usually offered every third year.

HS 125a Contemporary Antisemitism

Designed to enable students to understand contemporary antisemitism and explore ways to address anti-Jewish hatred. Course content will be multidisciplinary, drawn from history, political science, social psychology, and sociology and social policy. Students will have a chance to collect/analyze their own data. Usually offered every year.

LGLS 134b Workers' Rights in the United States
[ deis-us ss ]

Explores the rights and laws governing workers as individuals and as a group in the context of the history of labor and workers in the United States since the 18th century. The course focuses on the history and changing rights of free laborers, men, women and children, though it addresses the fact of enslaved workers in the US before 1865. Enslaved workers, and the aftermath of slavery and racism, has continued to affect the development of conditions for workers in the US until the present day. We will take a particular interest in labor and workers’ rights history and cases from Massachusetts, which has had a significant place in the story from 19th century mills and factories through contemporary workers’ struggles on college campuses - including at Brandeis.

The course will incorporate voices and histories of workers from a variety of backgrounds in the United States, who have worked for rights, recognition, and better conditions. Bringing comparative perspectives, there will also be units studying legal paradigms from Jewish law about on the working day, paid breaks and commuting time, to round out perspectives on the long-standing issues facing workers and employers across the globe and across cultures. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 27a Abortion, Reproduction, and Contraception in Jewish Law and Ethics
[ hum ]

Challenges the usual framing of abortion in the U.S. as a conflict between religious and secular, or murder versus personal autonomy, and challenges the predominant Christian framings of ethical considerations for abortion, by introducing Jewish sources from the bible until today. Students will gain detailed, critical, and historical information about how Jewish law and Jewish individuals have deliberated about ending pregnancies. The primary sources, along with guest speakers and academic scholarship, will empower students to weigh and propose alternative framings of abortion and reproduction in the U.S. Topics include: Is a fetus considered alive? What grounds do Jewish ethics offer for abortion? How does a pregnant woman or person’s mental and physical health affect a decision for abortion? Do Jewish ethics recognize rape to be grounds for abortion? Who should be the decision-maker on abortion? How should genetic testing affect decisions to terminate pregnancies? How greatly do modern Jewish legal voices range on abortion? Special one-time offering, fall 2022.

NEJS 37a The Holocaust: The Destruction of European Jewry
[ hum ]

Open to all students. May not be taken for credit by students who took NEJS 137a in prior years.

Why and how did European Jews become victims of genocide? A systematic examination of the planning and implementation of Nazi Germany's 'Final Solution to the Jewish Question' and the Jewish and general responses to it. Usually offered every year.

NEJS 117a Antisemitism: An Intellectual History
[ hum ]

Engages a variety of accounts regarding the origins and developments of the elusive meanings of antisemitism from antiquity to the present. We will focus primarily on the generative tensions between hostile views and acts against Jews/Judaism and Jewish reactions to these phenomena. We will delve into the ever shifting, but often recurring, complex of terms, ideas, beliefs, myths, symbols, and tropes which fuel the antisemitic imagination and forms the reservoir for potential violent action. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 123b Gender, Species, and Ethnicity in Early Judaism
[ djw hum oc ]

Being "human" is defined by distinguishing between and ordering different beings according to race, gender, disability and species. This privileges some in society while diminishing the value of others. This course introduces the main texts of rabbinic literature around fundamental questions of what is a legal "person" and what is not. Usually offered every year.

NEJS 141a Russian Jews in the Twentieth Century
[ hum ]

Examines Russian Jewish history from 1917 to the present. Focuses on the tsarist legacy, Russian Revolution, the creation of a new socialist society, development of Yiddish culture, the "Great Turn" under Stalin, Holocaust, post war Judaism, anti-Semitism, emigration, and current events. Usually offered every second year.
ChaeRan Freeze

NEJS 141b Human Rights: Law, Politics, Theology
[ hum ]

How did human rights work arise in recent decades, and why only then? Is it a new sort of religion? What critical thinking will help this vast work of advocacy, international law, democratization and humanitarianism alleviate human suffering? Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 144a Jews in the World of Islam
[ hum nw ]

Examines social and cultural history of Jewish communities in the Islamic world. Special emphasis is placed on the pre-modern Jewish communities. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 145a History of the State of Israel
[ hum ]

Examines the development of the State of Israel from its foundation to the present time. Israel's politics, society, and culture will be thematically analyzed. Usually offered every year.

NEJS 146a World Jewry since 1945
[ hum ]

Open to all students.

Examines the post war Jewish world with special attention to Jewish communities beyond Israel and the United States. Topics include demography, the emergence of new centers, anti-Semitism, identity, and assimilation. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 148a Inside Nazi Germany: Social and Political History of the Third Reich
[ hum ]

Provides an overview on the social and political history of Nazi Germany (1933-1945) covering the most significant topics pertaining to the ideological basis, structure and functioning of the regime as well as the social and political mechanisms that led millions of Germans to perpetrate war and genocide. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 149a The Jews of Muslim and Christian Spain
[ hum ]

A survey of Jewish political, intellectual, and social history in the Islamic and Christian spheres from the beginnings of Jewish life in Spain until the expulsion in 1492. Students develop skills in reading historical, literary, and philosophical texts. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 150b Israeli Civil Society: Diversity, Democracy, and Justice
[ djw hum ]

Civil society sustains democracy. It is where alternative futures are imagined, social boundaries are forged and contested, and identities are negotiated. As societies are becoming increasingly diverse and divided, and less stable and safe – civil society is where people organize, dream, and act. The Israeli civil society offers a fascinating case study for understanding the links between identity, organizations, and society. Through the Israeli context, we explore how national, ethnic, gender, cultural,  differences are constructed and managed in diverse and divided societies; understand how civic engagement shapes the future of democracy; and learn about the complexity and diversity of Jewish identity, in Israel and the diaspora. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 153a Between Ecstasy and Community: Hasidism in Jewish Thought and History
[ hum oc ]

Explores Hasidism, from the 18th century until today, as one of the dynamic forces in Jewish life, mixing radicalism and reaction, theology, storytelling and music, thick community and wild individualism, deep conformity and spiritual abandon. Usually offered every third year.

NEJS 153b The Philosophies of Abraham J. Heschel and Joseph B. Soloveitchik
[ hum ]

The two most influential American philosophers of twentieth-century Judaism were Joseph Soloveitchik and Abraham Heschel. Their distinctive combinations of modernity and tradition changed the nature of Jewish philosophical reflection in America and abroad. The course will focus on their commonalities and differences. The topics include epistemology, the understanding of the human, the nature of revelation and redemption, the function of prayer, the understanding of the Sabbath, and inter-religious dialogue. Usually offered every third year.

NEJS 154b Zionism, Israel, and the Reshaping of Jewish Identity
[ hum ]

Explores the relations between pluralism, religious resurgence, secularism and democracy in our time through readings in history, literature, philosophy, sociology, theology and law. Focuses on one fascinating, contentious and deeply consequential place: The State of Israel. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 157a Spinoza Now
[ hum ]

This seminar has a double aim. First, students will be introduced to Spinoza’s Ethics and the philosophical method he employed in facing fundamental challenges of religion, science, and politics. Second, students will be following Spinoza’s work alongside a set of 20th-21st century re-interpretations and responses that emerged first in France by Marxists and constituting the “New Spinoza,” one which prompted a re-evaluation of the fundamental problems raised when seeing aspirations for liberation and more adequate knowledge of God or nature have morphed into the emergence of deeper forms of human subjugation and the pernicious rule of will of the few in the name of the multitude. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 158b Yiddish Literature and the Modern Jewish Revolution
[ hum wi ]

Students with reading knowledge of Yiddish may elect to read the original texts.

Surveys and analyzes Yiddish fiction, poetry, and drama of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Readings include several works of the classic Yiddish writers, but the primary focus is on works by succeeding generations of modernist writers. Taught in English using texts in translation. Weekly additional section for students with advanced reading knowledge of Yiddish who elect to read some texts in the original. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 159a Modern Jewish Philosophy
[ hum ]

Surveys the contours of modern Jewish philosophy by engaging some of its most important themes and voices, competing Jewish inflections of and responses to rationalism, romanticism, idealism, existentialism, and nihilism. This provides the conceptual road signs of the course as we traverse the winding byways of Jewish philosophy from Baruch Spinoza to Emanuel Levinas. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 160a Jewish Feminisms
[ deis-us hum ]

Examines the role of Jewish women in the broader feminist movement and the impact of feminist theory and activism on Jewish thought, law, ritual practice and communal norms in the 20th and 21st century. We will explore classic feminist critiques and transformations of traditional Judaism and examine contemporary controversies involving issues such as equality under Jewish ritual and family law, sex segregation in public life, inclusion of Jewish People of Color and of LGBTQ Jews and antisemitism in the women's movement. Usually offered every year.

NEJS 162a American Judaism
[ hum ss wi ]

American Judaism from the earliest settlement to the present, with particular emphasis on the various streams of American Judaism. Judaism's place in American religion and comparisons to Judaism in other countries. Usually offered every year.

NEJS 162b It Couldn't Happen Here: American Antisemitism in Historical Perspective
[ hum ]

A close examination of three American anti-Semitic episodes: U.S. Grant's expulsion of the Jews during the Civil War, the Leo Frank case, and the publication of Henry Ford's The International Jew. What do these episodes teach us about anti-semitic prejudice, about Jews, and about America as a whole? Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 164a Judaism Confronts America
[ hum wi ]

Examines, through a close reading of selected primary sources, central issues and tensions in American Jewish life, paying attention to their historical background and to issues of Jewish law. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 166a Carnal Israel: Exploring Jewish Sexuality from Talmudic Times to the Present
[ hum ]

Explores the construction of Jewish sexuality from Talmudic times to the present. Themes include rabbinic views of sex, niddah, illicit relations, masculinity, medieval erotic poetry, Ashkenazi and Sephardic sexual practices, and sexual symbolism in mystic literature; the discourse on sex, race, and nationalism in Europe; debates about masculinity, sexual orientation, and stereotypes in America and Israel. Usually offered every third year.

NEJS 166b Jewish Identities: Navigating the Boundaries of Religion, Race, Ethnicity, and Nationality
[ hum ]

Explores the central question, 'who is a Jew' and what constitutes Jewishness from late antiquity times to the present through an interdisciplinary lens. Beginning with the rabbinic texts that sought to construct and strengthen the boundaries between Jews and non-Jews, the class will explore thorny questions about identities through the lens of religion, ethnicity and race, culture, nationality, and science. Usually offered every year.

NEJS 169b From Sunday Schools to Birthright: History of American Jewish Education
[ hum ]

Empowers students to articulate a reality-based, transformative vision of Jewish education that is grounded in an appreciation for the history and sociology of American Jewish education. It will familiarize students with and contextualize the present Jewish educational landscape, through the use of historical case studies and current research, encouraging students to view the field from an evolutionary perspective. The seminar will address Jewish education in all its forms, including formal and informal settings (e.g., schools, camps, youth groups, educational tourism). Usually offered every third year.

NEJS 171a Teaching and Learning Modern Jewish History, the Holocaust, and Israel
[ hum ]

Examines why we teach history, how students learn history, the uses of public history, and what history means within a Jewish context. Special emphasis is placed on teaching with primary sources, digital resources, and oral history. Includes an oral history project in cooperation with the Jewish Women's Archive and Keshet (a Jewish LGBTQ organization), and an introduction to Holocaust education with Facing History and Ourselves. Usually offered every third year.

NEJS 171b Tikkun Olam/Repairing the World: Service and Social Justice in Theory and Practice
[ hum ]

What does tikkun olam mean? What is a life of service? What should one learn from service-learning? Does "social justice" actually do any good? This is a service-learning course, and includes a service component in the field. Usually offered every third year.

NEJS 173a Trauma and Violence in Israeli Literature and Film
[ deis-us djw fl hum oc ]

Taught in Hebrew.

Explores trauma and violence in Israeli Literature, film, and art. Focuses on man-made disasters, war and terrorism, sexual and family violence, and murder and suicide, and examines their relation to nationalism, Zionism, gender, and sexual identity. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 174a Minorities and Others in Israeli Literature and Culture
[ djw fl hum ]

Taught in Hebrew.

An exploration of poetics and identity in modern Hebrew literature. By offering a feminist and psychoanalytic reading of various Hebrew texts, this seminar explores questions of personal and national identity, otherness, visibility, and marginality in the Israeli context. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 176b Jewish Graphic Novels
[ hum ]

Examines the complex genre of the Jewish graphic novel. Explores Jewish artists' use of graphic narratives to grapple with issues of acculturation, trauma, and identity. Special focus on the reconfiguration of Jewish gender identities. Structured around primary texts. Secondary readings provide historical context and theoretical analysis. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 177a The Holocaust in Israeli and Jewish Literature
[ hum ]

Taught in English.

A broad survey of Holocaust writings in Modern Jewish literature. Examines the psychological, social, moral, and aesthetic challenges involved in representing the Holocaust in Israeli, American, and European context through literary texts, theoretical research, works of art, and film. Usually offered every third year.

NEJS 178a Love, Sex, and Power in Israeli Culture
[ djw fl hum ]

Taught in Hebrew. May be repeated for credit.

Explores questions of romance, gender, marriage, and jealousy in the Israeli context by offering a feminist and psychoanalytic reading of Hebrew texts, works of art, and film. Usually offered every third year.

NEJS 181a Jews on Screen: From "Cohen's Fire Sale" to the Coen Brothers
[ hum ]

Open to all students.

Survey course focusing on moving images of Jews and Jewish life in fiction and factual films. Includes early Russian and American silents, home movies of European Jews, Yiddish feature films, Israeli cinema, independent films, and Hollywood classics. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 181b Film and the Holocaust
[ hum ]

Open to all students.

Examines the medium of film, propaganda, documentary, and narrative fiction relevant to the history of the Holocaust. The use of film to shape, justify, document, interpret, and imagine the Holocaust. Beginning with the films produced by the Third Reich, the course includes films produced immediately after the events, as well as contemporary feature films. The focus will be how the film medium, as a medium, works to (re)present meaning(s). Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 183b Global Jewish Literature
[ hum wi ]

May not be taken for credit by students who took NEJS 171a in prior years.

Introduces important works of modern Jewish literature, graphic fiction, and film. Taking a comparative approach, it addresses major themes in contemporary Jewish culture, interrogates the "Jewishness" of the works and considers issues of language, poetics, and culture significant to Jewish identity. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 184b Disability Cultures: Art, Film and Literature of People with Disabilities
[ deis-us djw hum oc ]

Explores cultural representations of disability in Israel, Europe, and the US. By focusing on literature, film, dance, and visual art, it explores physical, mental, and emotional disability experiences, and their relations to gender, sexuality, nationalism, and identity politics. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 189a The Arab-Israeli Conflict
[ hum ss ]

Consideration of Arab-Jewish relations, attitudes, and interactions from 1880 to the present. Emphasis on social factors and intellectual currents and their impact on politics. Examines the conflict within its international setting. Usually offered every third year.

NEJS 189b Formative Moments in the Disputed Land of Israel-Palestine
[ djw hum ]

Examines the history of Israel/Palestine during the 20th century by focusing on several formative moments that took place pre and post 1948. It reexamines key issues that emerged around each of those events and explores the implications they had on the formation of Israeli and Palestinian societies. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 192b Power, Morality and Identity: Jewish Political Thought
[ hum ]

Though Jews were stateless for centuries, they had many political institutions and thought deeply about basic questions of politics, authority, ethics and power. In modernity, the age of emancipation, revolution, democracy, nationalism, Holocaust and Zionism, those ideas and institutions were put to new, shattering tests. All readings are in English with a HEBREW option for those who would like. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 196a Cultural Contact Zones in Israel-Palestine
[ djw hum ]

Explores the different ways in which boundaries have been constructed and imagined in the cultural scene in Israel/Palestine from the beginning of the 20th century to the present. It traces different cultural arenas that emerged during this period using examples from literature, cinema, music and visual arts – exploring the Hebrew-Arabic contact zones, religious and secular borderlands, the national divide between Jews and Arabs, and the fluid borderland across the gender divide. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 247b The Craft of Holocaust Research: Questions, Sources, Interpretations, and Debates

Provides an introduction to the emergence and development of Holocaust studies as an academic discipline. It will acquaint students with the main questions and sources of the historical scholarship and teach them to critically analyze the works of the major historians of the Holocaust. Usually offered every second year.

THA 146a Theater and the Holocaust
[ ca djw ]

By studying plays and theatrical tools, students can gain insight into the Holocaust and what made it possible as well as its lasting impact. The course will examine how theater has attempted to represent the unimaginable as and communicate about the toxic appeal of antisemitic Nazi ideology, both in the context of the Holocaust and its legacy. Usually offered every third year.

YDSH 10a Beginning Yiddish

Meets for four class hours per week.

The first of a four-semester sequence, this course introduces basic Yiddish grammar. Students also develop reading, writing, and conversational skills. Yiddish songs, poetry, and folklore are incorporated throughout. Usually offered every year.

YDSH 20b Continuing Yiddish

Prerequisite: YDSH 10a or permission of the instructor. Meets for four class hours per week.

Continues the study of grammar begun in YDSH 10a. Writing and speaking skills receive more emphasis than in the previous course, and students begin to build vocabulary and reading skills that will enable them to comprehend more complex texts. The history and culture of Eastern European Jewry are studied through Yiddish songs, films, and literature. Usually offered every year.

YDSH 30a Intermediate Yiddish
[ fl wi ]

Prerequisite: YDSH 20b or permission of the instructor. Meets for four class hours per week.

Third in a four-semester sequence. Students continue to develop reading skills as they sample texts from Yiddish prose fiction, folklore, and memoir literature. Grammatical instruction is more contextualized than in the previous courses. Speaking and writing skills are strongly emphasized. Usually offered every year.

YDSH 40b Advanced Intermediate Yiddish
[ fl hum ]

Prerequisite: YDSH 30a or permission of the instructor. Meets for four class hours per week.

The fourth in a four-semester sequence, this course is a continuation of YDSH 30a. Students discuss assigned texts in Yiddish. Written assignments emphasize the development of fluency and grammatical accuracy. Skills for using Yiddish in academic research are taught. Usually offered every year.

CAST 170a Documenting Immigrant Experiences
[ ss ]

Investigates documentary film as a genre, and explores the potential of the medium for engaging students with immigrant communities in Waltham through hands-on production experiences. Through the process of exchanging narratives with community members, students generate raw material for a film documentary. Usually offered every year.

CLAS 118b Archaeology of the Holy Land
[ hum ]

For archaeology in Israel, the material remains of the past represent a fundamental aspect of people’s identities and conception of place. In this course, we will survey the archaeological evidence for the development of complex society in the Neolithic through the hegemony of the Romans and the transition into the Byzantine Empire. Over this long era, figures larger than life made history here: King Solomon, Judah Maccabee, Herod the Great, and Constantine, among others. Their stories are set in time but also transcend it, and the land in which they lived was itself transformed from mere geography to the Holy Land. We will address the modern scholars who have conducted archaeological studies from the early days of Biblical Archaeology to the present situation that fosters some of the most interdisciplinary archaeological research in the world. Our focus will be on the study of sites and remains that archaeologists have recovered, consider the relationship of physical remains and written accounts, and learn how material evidence in its varied forms of architecture, art, ceramics, and other objects, helps us better understand ancient life. Discussions will also include recent debates about the future of the discipline and issues of cultural heritage and public history. Usually offered every third year.

HIST 117b The History of Modern Christianity
[ ss ]

Christianity is the common culture of about a third of the world’s population. The evolution of Christianity is a wonderful illustration of the history of ideas, and the way an ideology adapts itself to the needs of its followers. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 3a Religions of Abraham: Judaism, Christianity, Islam
[ hum ]

An introduction to the three major religions originating in the Near East: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Areas of focus include historical development, sacred texts, rituals, and interpretive traditions. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 117a Antisemitism: An Intellectual History
[ hum ]

Engages a variety of accounts regarding the origins and developments of the elusive meanings of antisemitism from antiquity to the present. We will focus primarily on the generative tensions between hostile views and acts against Jews/Judaism and Jewish reactions to these phenomena. We will delve into the ever shifting, but often recurring, complex of terms, ideas, beliefs, myths, symbols, and tropes which fuel the antisemitic imagination and forms the reservoir for potential violent action. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 122a Magic and Witchcraft in the Ancient Near East
[ hum nw ]

Examines magical literature, rituals, and beliefs in the ancient Near East. Topics such as demonology, illness, prayer, and exorcism are covered; special attention is paid to witchcraft. This course is organized around the close reading of ancient texts. Usually offered every third year.

NEJS 133b Judaism in the Time of Jesus
[ hum ]

Studies the dynamics of Judaism in the Roman empire in the first century CE through a study of the textual, archaeological, and art-historical evidence from the late Second Temple period to explore the cultural context out of which both Christianity and Rabbinic Judaism emerged. Special one-time offering, fall 2021.

NEJS 134a Debating Religion: Muslims, Christians, and Jews in Dialogue and Dispute
[ hum ]

A history of interreligious polemic, disputation, and dialogue among Jews, Christians, and Muslims from antiquity to modernity. The course highlights points of difference and contention among the traditions as well as the ways in which the practice of disputation played a formative role in the coevolution of those traditions. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 173a Trauma and Violence in Israeli Literature and Film
[ deis-us djw fl hum oc ]

Taught in Hebrew.

Explores trauma and violence in Israeli Literature, film, and art. Focuses on man-made disasters, war and terrorism, sexual and family violence, and murder and suicide, and examines their relation to nationalism, Zionism, gender, and sexual identity. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 184b Disability Cultures: Art, Film and Literature of People with Disabilities
[ deis-us djw hum oc ]

Explores cultural representations of disability in Israel, Europe, and the US. By focusing on literature, film, dance, and visual art, it explores physical, mental, and emotional disability experiences, and their relations to gender, sexuality, nationalism, and identity politics. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 186a Introduction to the Qur'an
[ djw dl hum nw ]

Traces the history of the Qur'an as text, its exegesis, and its role in inter-religious polemics, law, theology, and politics. Examines the role of the Qur'an in Islamic teachings and its global impact. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 194b Sufism: Mystical Traditions in Classical and Modern Islam
[ hum nw ]

An examination of the teaching and practices of the Sufi tradition. Explores the foundations of Sufism, its relation to other aspects of Islam, the development of Sufi teachings in both poetry and prose, and the manner in which Sufism is practiced in lands as diverse as Egypt, Turkey, Iran, India, Malaysia, and Europe. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 195b Early Islamic History from Muhammad to the Mongols
[ hum nw ]

Introduces Islamic history from the birth of Islam in the 7th century to the Mongol invasions of the 13th century. Students will examine trends in political, social, and intellectual history, focusing on three main periods; Islamic Origins, The High Caliphate, and Fragmentation/Efflorescence. Readings will include primary sources in translation, as well as academic analyses from traditional, critical, and revisionist perspectives. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 196b Mamluks to Modernity: Islamic History 1300-2000
[ hum ]

Explores the political and cultural history of early modern and modern Muslim societies including the Mongols, Timurids, Mamluks, and the Gunpowder empires (Ottomans, Safavids and Mughals). It concludes with the transformations in the Middle East in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries: European colonialism, modernization, and the rise of the nation-states. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 198a Islam and the West
[ hum ]

Explores various aspects of the interaction between “Islam” and “the West,” both historically and in contemporary times. Approximately half the course will examine the period from the rise of Islam in the 7th century until the age of Western colonialism in the 19th century, while the second half will concentrate on the modern and contemporary periods. Usually offered every third year.

NEJS 173a Trauma and Violence in Israeli Literature and Film
[ deis-us djw fl hum oc ]

Taught in Hebrew.

Explores trauma and violence in Israeli Literature, film, and art. Focuses on man-made disasters, war and terrorism, sexual and family violence, and murder and suicide, and examines their relation to nationalism, Zionism, gender, and sexual identity. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 174a Minorities and Others in Israeli Literature and Culture
[ djw fl hum ]

Taught in Hebrew.

An exploration of poetics and identity in modern Hebrew literature. By offering a feminist and psychoanalytic reading of various Hebrew texts, this seminar explores questions of personal and national identity, otherness, visibility, and marginality in the Israeli context. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 174b Israeli Women Writers on War and Peace
[ deis-us djw fl hum oc ]

Taught in Hebrew.

An exploration of nationalism and gender in Modern Hebrew literature. By discussing various Hebrew texts and Israeli works of art and film, this course explores women's relationship to Zionism, war, peace, the state, politics, and processes of cultural production. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 178a Love, Sex, and Power in Israeli Culture
[ djw fl hum ]

Taught in Hebrew. May be repeated for credit.

Explores questions of romance, gender, marriage, and jealousy in the Israeli context by offering a feminist and psychoanalytic reading of Hebrew texts, works of art, and film. Usually offered every third year.

NEJS 25a Introduction to Talmud
[ hum oc ]

Prerequisite: A 30-level Hebrew course or the equivalent is recommended.

An introduction to Treatise Bava Metzia, on the subject of labor law. Topics include: payment for commuting time, eating on the job, benefits a worker can expect from their employer. The course introduces the Babylonian Talmud. Attention is paid to modes of argument, literary form, and development of the Talmudic text. No previous study of Talmud is presupposed. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 110b Psalms in the Hebrew Bible
[ hum ]

Prerequisites: NEJS 10a or 40-level HBRW course or permission of the instructor.

A close reading of selected Psalms in Biblical Hebrew, with study of their poetic, historical, and mythological features and contexts. Usually offered every third year.

NEJS 113a Biblical Aramaic in Context
[ hum ]

Prerequisite: HBRW 122a or b, NEJS 10a, or permission of the instructor.

A study of the Aramaic of the Bible (Daniel and Ezra), with contemporary papyri and inscriptions from ancient Egypt and Syria. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 125b Midrashic Literature: Sifre Deuteronomy
[ hum ]

Prerequisite: A 40-level Hebrew course or the equivalent.

An analysis of the midrashic method of the Sifre Deuteronomy. Emphasis will be placed on a close reading of the text, with a view to developing in the students the capacity to do independent analysis. Usually offered every fourth year.

NEJS 126a Intermediate Talmud
[ hum ]

Prerequisite: A 40-level Hebrew course or the equivalent.

Tractate Sanhedrin, chapter three, which deals with the issue of voluntary and compulsory arbitration and the binding nature of gambling agreements. Usually offered every third year.

NEJS 126b Agadic Literature: The Ethics of the Fathers with Avot d'Rabbi Nathan
[ hum ]

Prerequisite: A 40-level Hebrew course or the equivalent.

A study of the Mishnah Avot and its classical commentaries. Focuses primarily on literary and historical questions. Usually offered every fourth year.

NEJS 127b The History and Literature of the Jewish Liturgy
[ hum ]

Prerequisite: A 20-level Hebrew course or the equivalent.

A study of the literature, theology, and history of the daily and Sabbath liturgy. Emphasis will be placed on the interplay between literary structure and ideational content, along with discussion of the philosophical issues involved in prayer. Usually offered every third year.

NEJS 172a Accelerated Talmud
[ hum ]

Prerequisite: NEJS 25a and NEJS 126a, or permission of the instructor. May be repeated once for credit.

Advances students’ abilities to navigate the legal concepts and argumentation of the Babylonian Talmud in its original languages, using an unvocalized, unpunctuated text. Students will improve their skills analyzing, discussing, and clarifying Talmudic statements, which are composed in technical, abbreviated form. They will consider the relation between laws and narratives, and explain how the Talmud develops legal concepts through dialogue, proofs and other methods. The course draws on a traditional form of Talmudic study, interested in broad-based expertise, called “beqiut.” Students learn an array of concepts through steady progression through one chapter of a Talmudic tractate, deepening their knowledge by acquiring familiarity with additional Talmudic and Biblical texts as they arise. The Talmudic tractate and chapter vary depending on the year and semester offered. Students will be expected to prepare course material in its original languages with the aid of dictionaries before class and be able to discuss it in class; partnered preparation is strongly encouraged and will be facilitated by the instructor. Usually offered every year.

NEJS 173a Trauma and Violence in Israeli Literature and Film
[ deis-us djw fl hum oc ]

Taught in Hebrew.

Explores trauma and violence in Israeli Literature, film, and art. Focuses on man-made disasters, war and terrorism, sexual and family violence, and murder and suicide, and examines their relation to nationalism, Zionism, gender, and sexual identity. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 174a Minorities and Others in Israeli Literature and Culture
[ djw fl hum ]

Taught in Hebrew.

An exploration of poetics and identity in modern Hebrew literature. By offering a feminist and psychoanalytic reading of various Hebrew texts, this seminar explores questions of personal and national identity, otherness, visibility, and marginality in the Israeli context. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 174b Israeli Women Writers on War and Peace
[ deis-us djw fl hum oc ]

Taught in Hebrew.

An exploration of nationalism and gender in Modern Hebrew literature. By discussing various Hebrew texts and Israeli works of art and film, this course explores women's relationship to Zionism, war, peace, the state, politics, and processes of cultural production. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 178a Love, Sex, and Power in Israeli Culture
[ djw fl hum ]

Taught in Hebrew. May be repeated for credit.

Explores questions of romance, gender, marriage, and jealousy in the Israeli context by offering a feminist and psychoanalytic reading of Hebrew texts, works of art, and film. Usually offered every third year.

AMST 121a The American Jewish Woman: 1890-Present
[ ss ]

Surveys the experiences of American Jewish women in work, politics, religion, family life, the arts, and American culture generally over the last 100 years, examining how the dual heritage of female and Jewish "otherness" shaped often-conflicted identities. Usually offered every second year.

ANTH 118b Culture and Power in the Middle East
[ ss ]

Examines the peoples and societies of the Middle East from an anthropological perspective. Explores problems of cross-cultural examination, the notion of the Middle East as an area of study, and the role of anthropology in the formation of the idea of the 'Middle East.' To this end, the course is divided into sections devoted to understanding and problematizing key concepts and themes central to our understanding of the region, including tribe and state, family and kinship, gender and sexuality, honor and shame, tradition and modernity, and religion and secularism. Course materials will include critical ethnographies based on field work in the region as well as locally produced materials such as literature, music, film and other visual arts. Usually offered every fourth year.

ANTH 120b Ecology and Society in the Middle East and the Arabian Peninsula
[ ss ]

Examines how humans interact with the world around them. The course covers the main theories of the relationship between ecology and society, and explores issues related to the environment and agriculture in the Middle East, with a focus on the Arabian Peninsula. Usually offered every third year.

CAST 170a Documenting Immigrant Experiences
[ ss ]

Investigates documentary film as a genre, and explores the potential of the medium for engaging students with immigrant communities in Waltham through hands-on production experiences. Through the process of exchanging narratives with community members, students generate raw material for a film documentary. Usually offered every year.

ED 161b Religious Education in America
[ hum ]

No principle stands more sacred in American public education than separation of Church and state. Public schools pride themselves as neutral playing fields when it comes to matters of religion. But this position belies a more complicated history. American public schools were initially founded by protestant leaders concerned with an influx of non-protestant immigrants during the middle of the 19th century. Indeed, despite lip service to ideas like separation of Church and state, American educational leaders long saw schools as a vehicle for promoting a Protestant inflected American culture. This course begins from the premise that American education and American religion have always existed in relationship. Religious groups have sometimes tried to use the public schools as vehicles to advance their religion, sometimes, they have created supplemental schools, and sometimes they have created whole parallel school systems. But in all cases, education and religion in American are intertwined. This course asks when education is religious and when religion is educational. It examines a series of case studies drawn from different faith communities including Judaism, Evangelical Christianity, Catholicism, and Islam. Usually offered every second year.

HIST 134b The Ottoman Empire: From Principality to Republic by way of Empire
[ ss ]

Starting around the year 1300, the Ottomans grew from a tiny principality into a global Islamic empire by 1550, and in 1923 transformed into the modern Republic of Turkey. Ottoman history is the history of southeastern Europe, Anatolia, the Middle East, and most of North Africa. This course explores the arc of this 600-year history as it considers what enabled the Ottomans to emerge and flourish, as well as the processes that eventually tore the empire apart. By the end of the course, students will appreciate Ottoman legacies to politics, economics, culture, art, language, and food that are local, regional and global, with a direct influence on over two dozen modern nations. Usually offered every second year.

HIST 188b The Varieties of Religious Experience, 1350-1900
[ ss ]

How do you talk about religion after Darwin, when science has replaced religion as the authoritative discourse, but most people everywhere adhere to some sort of religious belief? By reading together The Varieties of Religious experience (1902) by William James. Usually offered every third year.

HRNS 231b The American Jewish Community in Historical Perspective

Uses history to shed light on the issues and challenges facing the contemporary American Jewish community. This course asks how the community assumed its current shape, and uses a series of historical case studies to examine past crises and the lessons that might be learned from them. The goal of this course is to help students craft a "usable past" - one that employs the hindsight of history to understand the present and plan ahead for the future. Usually offered every year.

ITAL 134b Voci e storie della cultura ebraica italiana
[ fl hum wi ]

Prerequisite: ITAL 105a or 106a or permission of the instructor. Conducted in Italian. Materials fee: $20.

Analyzes Italian Jewish representations in Italian culture from medieval times to the founding of the ghetto in Venice in 1516 and leading Jewish figures of the Renaissance. Works of modern Italian Jewish writers and historians are examined as well as Italian movies that address Jewish themes within the mainstream of Italian culture. This course has an interdisciplinary approach while focusing on advanced Italian language skills. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 104b Islam: Civilization and Institutions
[ hum nw ]

Provides a disciplined study of Islamic civilization from its origins to the modern period. Approaches the study from a humanities perspective. Topics covered will include the Qur'an, tradition, law, theology, politics, Islam and other religions, modern developments, and women in Islam. Usually offered every year.

PHIL 128b Philosophy of Race and Gender
[ deis-us hum ]

Explores the nature of racism and gender oppression, as well as various remedies to them, including reparations, affirmative action, and policies of group representation at the state level. Usually offered every second year.

PHIL 177b Simone Weil
[ hum ]

Focuses on the legendary Christian Platonist French philosopher Simone Weil, revolutionary and mystic. A key theme in her philosophy: Is divine perfection reconcilable with human suffering? Though she died tragically at the tender age of 34, Weil rethought the foundations of contemporary civilization in philosophy, science, mathematics, ethics, politics and religion. Usually offered every third year.

RECS 135a Russian Short Fictions: Where is Justice in This World?
[ djw hum oc ]

Open to all students. Conducted in English. Students may choose to do readings either in English translation or in Russian.

Focuses on the great tradition of the short story as practiced by Russian writers and the connection and divisions among them. This genre invites extreme stylistic and narrative experimentation ranging from the comic to the tragic, as well as being a vehicle for striking expressions of complex social, philosophical, and religious themes. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 113a Biblical Aramaic in Context
[ hum ]

Prerequisite: HBRW 122a or b, NEJS 10a, or permission of the instructor.

A study of the Aramaic of the Bible (Daniel and Ezra), with contemporary papyri and inscriptions from ancient Egypt and Syria. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 122a Magic and Witchcraft in the Ancient Near East
[ hum nw ]

Examines magical literature, rituals, and beliefs in the ancient Near East. Topics such as demonology, illness, prayer, and exorcism are covered; special attention is paid to witchcraft. This course is organized around the close reading of ancient texts. Usually offered every third year.

CLAS 119b Homer and the Hebrew Bible
[ hum ]

A study of the cultural history of the parallel canonization of Homer and the Hebrew Bible.

NEJS 10a Biblical Hebrew Grammar and Texts
[ dl fl hum ]

Prerequisite: HBRW 20b or the equivalent as determined by placement examination.

An accelerated grammar course in Biblical Hebrew. Students engage with biblical Hebrew texts from the first class. They build from words and phrases to a literary translation and grammatical analysis of a student’s choice of biblical Hebrew narrative. Topics include: phonology and the Tiberian pronunciation tradition, syllables and stress patterns, nouns, articles, conjunctions, pronouns, adjectives, possession, prepositions, the prefix and suffix conjugations, derived stems, tense and aspect, volitives, infinitives, and irregular roots. The class uses music and digital tools to aid memorization. It builds students’ vocabularies and understanding of the unusual features of biblical grammar and syntax compared with other semitic languages and modern Hebrew.

NEJS 12a Who Wrote the Bible?
[ hum ]

Open to all students.

The Hebrew Bible (Christian “Old Testament”) is a collection of diverse and powerful books that is central to worldwide social, political, and religious experience. Despite this centrality, there are innumerable misconceptions about how the Bible came into being and what it really says. In this class, we will ask and answer questions about the Bible’s historical context and ancient meaning, with a focus on matters of composition and early reception. Who wrote the Bible? When was it written? To what circumstances were its authors responding? Moving beyond the often impossible project of identifying complex texts with individual authors, we will use both biblical and ancient non-biblical sources to situate biblical authors with respect to chronology, geography, institutions, class, gender, and more. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 107a Biblical Prophecy
[ hum ]

Studies ancient Israel and Judah’s early prophetic literature in translation, focusing on prophecy's ancient Assyrian context and the books of Isaiah, Hosea, Amos, and Nahum. Usually offered every third year.

NEJS 110b Psalms in the Hebrew Bible
[ hum ]

Prerequisites: NEJS 10a or 40-level HBRW course or permission of the instructor.

A close reading of selected Psalms in Biblical Hebrew, with study of their poetic, historical, and mythological features and contexts. Usually offered every third year.

NEJS 113a Biblical Aramaic in Context
[ hum ]

Prerequisite: HBRW 122a or b, NEJS 10a, or permission of the instructor.

A study of the Aramaic of the Bible (Daniel and Ezra), with contemporary papyri and inscriptions from ancient Egypt and Syria. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 115b Gender and Sexuality in the Bible
[ hum ]

Open to all students.

The Bible's depiction of gender, relationships, and social values in narrative, poetry, and law. Topics include the legal status of women, masculinity, prostitution, and how particular readings of the biblical text have shaped modern ideas about gender and sexuality. Usually offered every third year.

NEJS 122a Magic and Witchcraft in the Ancient Near East
[ hum nw ]

Examines magical literature, rituals, and beliefs in the ancient Near East. Topics such as demonology, illness, prayer, and exorcism are covered; special attention is paid to witchcraft. This course is organized around the close reading of ancient texts. Usually offered every third year.

CLAS 117b Unmasking Cleopatra: Gender, Power, and A Legacy
[ djw hum ]

A close examination of the history and world of Cleopatra VII of Egypt and her later reception. Usually offered every third year.

CLAS/NEJ 106b Visions of Byzantium
[ hum ]

Focuses on the medieval Roman Empire during what is known as the “Middle Byzantine” period from roughly the ninth century until the conquest of Constantinople during the Fourth Crusade in 1204. The course is designed to establish a visual and textual history of the medieval Roman Empire during its height through the analysis of three categories of evidence: documentary sources (papyri, inscriptions); historical narratives (Michael Psellos, Anna Komnena, Michael Attaleiates); and visual culture (excavated material; museum collections). The course also explores the world of historiography surrounding the study of the tenth, eleventh, and twelfth centuries. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 25a Introduction to Talmud
[ hum oc ]

Prerequisite: A 30-level Hebrew course or the equivalent is recommended.

An introduction to Treatise Bava Metzia, on the subject of labor law. Topics include: payment for commuting time, eating on the job, benefits a worker can expect from their employer. The course introduces the Babylonian Talmud. Attention is paid to modes of argument, literary form, and development of the Talmudic text. No previous study of Talmud is presupposed. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 30a Reading the New Testament: Origins and Communities of Faith
[ hum ]

Open to all students.

Introduces the New Testament, its authors, and early Christian communities. The course examines the development of the New Testament in a broader Jewish and Roman context and how communities selected both canonical and non-canonical texts for shaping Christian life. Focus on decolonizing scholarship and scholars of the New Testament with attention to migration, empire, authority, race, ethnicity, gender, personhood, and reading communities within a historical framework. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 113a Biblical Aramaic in Context
[ hum ]

Prerequisite: HBRW 122a or b, NEJS 10a, or permission of the instructor.

A study of the Aramaic of the Bible (Daniel and Ezra), with contemporary papyri and inscriptions from ancient Egypt and Syria. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 123b Gender, Species, and Ethnicity in Early Judaism
[ djw hum oc ]

Being "human" is defined by distinguishing between and ordering different beings according to race, gender, disability and species. This privileges some in society while diminishing the value of others. This course introduces the main texts of rabbinic literature around fundamental questions of what is a legal "person" and what is not. Usually offered every year.

NEJS 125b Midrashic Literature: Sifre Deuteronomy
[ hum ]

Prerequisite: A 40-level Hebrew course or the equivalent.

An analysis of the midrashic method of the Sifre Deuteronomy. Emphasis will be placed on a close reading of the text, with a view to developing in the students the capacity to do independent analysis. Usually offered every fourth year.

NEJS 126a Intermediate Talmud
[ hum ]

Prerequisite: A 40-level Hebrew course or the equivalent.

Tractate Sanhedrin, chapter three, which deals with the issue of voluntary and compulsory arbitration and the binding nature of gambling agreements. Usually offered every third year.

NEJS 126b Agadic Literature: The Ethics of the Fathers with Avot d'Rabbi Nathan
[ hum ]

Prerequisite: A 40-level Hebrew course or the equivalent.

A study of the Mishnah Avot and its classical commentaries. Focuses primarily on literary and historical questions. Usually offered every fourth year.

NEJS 127a Second Temple and Rabbinic Judaism
[ hum ]

A survey course of the Second Temple and rabbinic periods focusing on the Bible, the Apocrypha, the Pseudepigrapha, the Dead Sea Scrolls, the writing of Josephus and Philo, the Mishnah, Talmud, and Midrash. Usually offered every third year.

NEJS 127b The History and Literature of the Jewish Liturgy
[ hum ]

Prerequisite: A 20-level Hebrew course or the equivalent.

A study of the literature, theology, and history of the daily and Sabbath liturgy. Emphasis will be placed on the interplay between literary structure and ideational content, along with discussion of the philosophical issues involved in prayer. Usually offered every third year.

ANTH 136a Archaeology of Power: Authority, Prestige, and Inequality in the Past
[ nw ss ]

Anthropological and archaeological research and theory provide a unique, long-term perspective on the development of inequality and rise of hierarchical societies, including the earliest ancient states such as the Moche, Maya, China, Sumerians, Egyptians, and others through 5000 years of human history. A comparative, multidisciplinary seminar examining the dynamics of authority, prestige, and power in the past, and the implications for understanding the present. Usually offered every second year.

ANTH 153a Writing Systems and Scribal Traditions
[ nw ss ]

Explores the ways in which writing has been conceptualized in social anthropology, linguistics and archaeology. A comparative study of various forms of visual communication, both non-glottic and glottic systems, is undertaken to better understand the nature of pristine and contemporary phonetic scripts around the world and to consider alternative models to explain their origin, prestige, and obsolescence. The course pays particular attention to the social functions of early writing systems, the linkage of literacy and political power, and the production of historical memory. Usually offered every second year.

ANTH 186b Language and Culture: Linguistic Anthropology
[ ss ]

Explores the foundational relationship between language and culture by introducing students to linguistic anthropology. Explores how language both reflects and creates thought, culture, identity, and power relations. Topics include the study of linguistic meaning in context, the construction of social relationships through language, language and politics, language and religion, and our own experiences with language in everyday life. Usually offered every second year.

CAST 170a Documenting Immigrant Experiences
[ ss ]

Investigates documentary film as a genre, and explores the potential of the medium for engaging students with immigrant communities in Waltham through hands-on production experiences. Through the process of exchanging narratives with community members, students generate raw material for a film documentary. Usually offered every year.

CLAS 100a Survey of Greek History: Bronze Age to 323 BCE
[ hum ]

Surveys the political and social development of the Greek city-states from Bronze Age origins to the death of Alexander. Usually offered every second year.

CLAS 155a Mummies, Myths, and Monuments of Ancient Egypt
[ hum wi ]

Surveys Egyptian archaeology and culture from the Predynastic Period to the Late Period. Topics include race and ethnicity in Egypt, mythology, mummification, and a survey of monuments. Course also provides a critical examination of the reception and (mis)use of Ancient Egypt in popular culture over time. Usually offered every second year.

CLAS 156b Living and Dying in Roman and Byzantine Egypt
[ djw hum wi ]

Examines the lived experiences of the Roman and Byzantine inhabitants of Egypt from the Nile valley to the desert oases. Topics include bioarchaeology, childhood, education, religious life, papyrology, important archaeological discoveries/collections, colonial archaeology, mortuary arts, and the journey from childhood to death in antiquity. Class will visit area museums to also examine the artifactual evidence of Roman and Byzantine Egypt. Usually offered every second year.

CLAS 157a Ancient Egypt on the Silver Screen
[ djw hum ]

Explores the relationship between Egyptian history and archaeology from the silent film era to the modern period. Topics include colonial archaeology, the 1922 discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb, modern Egyptian archaeology, race, and ethnicity in telling the story of Egypt's antiquity. Characters and periods examined include the Pyramid Builders of Giza, Joseph, Moses and the Exodus, Akhenaten and Nefertiti, and Cleopatra. Discussions will also examine how archaeological discoveries impacted design, costumes, and Egypt's power. All films and readings are in English or with English subtitles. Usually offered every third year.

CLAS 170a Classical Mythology
[ hum ]

An introduction to Greek and Roman mythology. Considers ancient song cultures, and the relationship between myth, drama, and religion. Also explores visual representations of myth. Usually offered every second year.

CLAS 190b Ancient Mystery Cults
[ hum ]

Often shrouded in secrecy, ancient mystery cults appealed to people in ways different from traditional Greek and Roman religion. As indicated by their name, the Mysteries come from the Greek word, mystes, which means 'initiate.' Membership in the Mystery Cults was based on initiation into rituals, kept secret from the outside world. We rely on the archaeological evidence, myths, and literary references to build an understanding of these cults who offered more personal and individualized experience towards death and the afterlife. In this class, we will explore Mystery Cults across the Mediterranean world, beginning in ancient Greece and ending in the Late Roman Empire. This course provides an exploration of ancient religion its art, architecture, belief systems, origins, and evolution, as well as understanding it in its socio-political and cultural context. Usually offered every third year.

LING 100a Introduction to Linguistics
[ ss ]

Open to all students.

A general introduction to linguistic theory and the principles of linguistic analysis. Students will construct detailed analyses of data from English and other languages in the areas of phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, and pragmatics, and examine their implications for a theory of language as it is encoded in the human mind. Usually offered every year.

LING 110a Phonology I
[ ss ]

Prerequisite: LING 100a.

An introduction to generative phonology, the theory of natural language sound systems. Includes discussion of morphophonology, distinctive feature theory, phonological processes and their representation, the interaction of phonological processes, nonlinear phonological representations, and the basic principles of a constraint-based approach to phonology. Usually offered every year.

LING 115a Morphology
[ ss ]

Prerequisite: LING 100a.

An exploration of word structure and its analysis. Topics include the lexicon and lexical entries, word-headedness, argument structure and other issues in morphosyntax, derivational and inflectional morphology, compounds, morphophonology, and non-Indo-European processes like infixing, reduplication, and Semitic root-and-pattern morphology. Usually offered every second year.

LING 120b Syntax I
[ ss wi ]

Prerequisite: LING 100a is recommended but not required.

An introduction to the process of syntactic analysis, to generative syntactic theory, and to many major syntactic phenomena of English and other languages, including the clausal architecture, the lexicon, and various types of syntactic movement. Usually offered every year.

LING 125b Linguistic Typology
[ ss ]

Prerequisite: LING 100a. LING 110a, 115a, 120b, or 150a recommended.

Focuses on linguistic typology, in which the languages of the world are classified in terms of their common grammatical features rather than by genetic relationships. Includes study of language universals: traits and implicational relationships which hold in (nearly) every language. Usually offered every year.

NEJS 122a Magic and Witchcraft in the Ancient Near East
[ hum nw ]

Examines magical literature, rituals, and beliefs in the ancient Near East. Topics such as demonology, illness, prayer, and exorcism are covered; special attention is paid to witchcraft. This course is organized around the close reading of ancient texts. Usually offered every third year.

NEJS 123b Gender, Species, and Ethnicity in Early Judaism
[ djw hum oc ]

Being "human" is defined by distinguishing between and ordering different beings according to race, gender, disability and species. This privileges some in society while diminishing the value of others. This course introduces the main texts of rabbinic literature around fundamental questions of what is a legal "person" and what is not. Usually offered every year.

NEJS 110b Psalms in the Hebrew Bible
[ hum ]

Prerequisites: NEJS 10a or 40-level HBRW course or permission of the instructor.

A close reading of selected Psalms in Biblical Hebrew, with study of their poetic, historical, and mythological features and contexts. Usually offered every third year.

ARBC 20b Beginning Arabic II

Prerequisite: A grade of C- or higher in ARBC 10a or the equivalent. Yields six semester-hour credits towards rate of work and graduation. Six class hours per week.

Continuation of ARBC 10a. A grade of C- or higher in ARBC 20b is required to take a 30-level ARBC course. Usually offered every year.

GRK 20b Continuing Ancient Greek

Prerequisite: A grade of C- or higher in GRK 10a. Three class hours per week.

Fundamentals of Greek grammar through reading. Students must earn a C- or higher in GRK 20b in order to enroll in a 30-level Greek course. Usually offered every year.

HBRW 20b Intermediate Hebrew

Prerequisite: HBRW 10a or HBRW 19a or the equivalent as determined by placement examination. Four class hours per week with additional half an hour to practice speaking skills.

Continuation of HBRW 10a, employing the same methods. Intensive training in Hebrew grammar, listening, comprehension, speaking, reading, and writing. Several sections offered every semester.

NEJS 10a Biblical Hebrew Grammar and Texts
[ dl fl hum ]

Prerequisite: HBRW 20b or the equivalent as determined by placement examination.

An accelerated grammar course in Biblical Hebrew. Students engage with biblical Hebrew texts from the first class. They build from words and phrases to a literary translation and grammatical analysis of a student’s choice of biblical Hebrew narrative. Topics include: phonology and the Tiberian pronunciation tradition, syllables and stress patterns, nouns, articles, conjunctions, pronouns, adjectives, possession, prepositions, the prefix and suffix conjugations, derived stems, tense and aspect, volitives, infinitives, and irregular roots. The class uses music and digital tools to aid memorization. It builds students’ vocabularies and understanding of the unusual features of biblical grammar and syntax compared with other semitic languages and modern Hebrew.

NEJS 113a Biblical Aramaic in Context
[ hum ]

Prerequisite: HBRW 122a or b, NEJS 10a, or permission of the instructor.

A study of the Aramaic of the Bible (Daniel and Ezra), with contemporary papyri and inscriptions from ancient Egypt and Syria. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 206a Advanced Northwest Semitics

Continued reading of various Northwest Semitic texts (Ugaritic, Phoenician, Aramaic, Moabite, Deir Allah, Hebrew inscriptions, etc.) with attention to historical grammar and historical context. Topics vary from year to year; may be repeated for credit. Usually offered every year.

ANTH 105a Myth and Ritual
[ nw ss ]

Studies myth and ritual as two interlocking modes of cultural symbolism. Evaluates theoretical approaches to myth by looking at creation and political myths. Examines performative, processual, and spatial models of ritual analysis through study of initiation, sacrifice, and funerals. Usually offered every second year.

ANTH 136a Archaeology of Power: Authority, Prestige, and Inequality in the Past
[ nw ss ]

Anthropological and archaeological research and theory provide a unique, long-term perspective on the development of inequality and rise of hierarchical societies, including the earliest ancient states such as the Moche, Maya, China, Sumerians, Egyptians, and others through 5000 years of human history. A comparative, multidisciplinary seminar examining the dynamics of authority, prestige, and power in the past, and the implications for understanding the present. Usually offered every second year.

ANTH 153a Writing Systems and Scribal Traditions
[ nw ss ]

Explores the ways in which writing has been conceptualized in social anthropology, linguistics and archaeology. A comparative study of various forms of visual communication, both non-glottic and glottic systems, is undertaken to better understand the nature of pristine and contemporary phonetic scripts around the world and to consider alternative models to explain their origin, prestige, and obsolescence. The course pays particular attention to the social functions of early writing systems, the linkage of literacy and political power, and the production of historical memory. Usually offered every second year.

ANTH 186b Language and Culture: Linguistic Anthropology
[ ss ]

Explores the foundational relationship between language and culture by introducing students to linguistic anthropology. Explores how language both reflects and creates thought, culture, identity, and power relations. Topics include the study of linguistic meaning in context, the construction of social relationships through language, language and politics, language and religion, and our own experiences with language in everyday life. Usually offered every second year.

CAST 170a Documenting Immigrant Experiences
[ ss ]

Investigates documentary film as a genre, and explores the potential of the medium for engaging students with immigrant communities in Waltham through hands-on production experiences. Through the process of exchanging narratives with community members, students generate raw material for a film documentary. Usually offered every year.

CLAS 100a Survey of Greek History: Bronze Age to 323 BCE
[ hum ]

Surveys the political and social development of the Greek city-states from Bronze Age origins to the death of Alexander. Usually offered every second year.

CLAS 170a Classical Mythology
[ hum ]

An introduction to Greek and Roman mythology. Considers ancient song cultures, and the relationship between myth, drama, and religion. Also explores visual representations of myth. Usually offered every second year.

CLAS 190b Ancient Mystery Cults
[ hum ]

Often shrouded in secrecy, ancient mystery cults appealed to people in ways different from traditional Greek and Roman religion. As indicated by their name, the Mysteries come from the Greek word, mystes, which means 'initiate.' Membership in the Mystery Cults was based on initiation into rituals, kept secret from the outside world. We rely on the archaeological evidence, myths, and literary references to build an understanding of these cults who offered more personal and individualized experience towards death and the afterlife. In this class, we will explore Mystery Cults across the Mediterranean world, beginning in ancient Greece and ending in the Late Roman Empire. This course provides an exploration of ancient religion its art, architecture, belief systems, origins, and evolution, as well as understanding it in its socio-political and cultural context. Usually offered every third year.

GRK 20b Continuing Ancient Greek

Prerequisite: A grade of C- or higher in GRK 10a. Three class hours per week.

Fundamentals of Greek grammar through reading. Students must earn a C- or higher in GRK 20b in order to enroll in a 30-level Greek course. Usually offered every year.

LING 100a Introduction to Linguistics
[ ss ]

Open to all students.

A general introduction to linguistic theory and the principles of linguistic analysis. Students will construct detailed analyses of data from English and other languages in the areas of phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, and pragmatics, and examine their implications for a theory of language as it is encoded in the human mind. Usually offered every year.

LING 110a Phonology I
[ ss ]

Prerequisite: LING 100a.

An introduction to generative phonology, the theory of natural language sound systems. Includes discussion of morphophonology, distinctive feature theory, phonological processes and their representation, the interaction of phonological processes, nonlinear phonological representations, and the basic principles of a constraint-based approach to phonology. Usually offered every year.

LING 115a Morphology
[ ss ]

Prerequisite: LING 100a.

An exploration of word structure and its analysis. Topics include the lexicon and lexical entries, word-headedness, argument structure and other issues in morphosyntax, derivational and inflectional morphology, compounds, morphophonology, and non-Indo-European processes like infixing, reduplication, and Semitic root-and-pattern morphology. Usually offered every second year.

LING 120b Syntax I
[ ss wi ]

Prerequisite: LING 100a is recommended but not required.

An introduction to the process of syntactic analysis, to generative syntactic theory, and to many major syntactic phenomena of English and other languages, including the clausal architecture, the lexicon, and various types of syntactic movement. Usually offered every year.

LING 125b Linguistic Typology
[ ss ]

Prerequisite: LING 100a. LING 110a, 115a, 120b, or 150a recommended.

Focuses on linguistic typology, in which the languages of the world are classified in terms of their common grammatical features rather than by genetic relationships. Includes study of language universals: traits and implicational relationships which hold in (nearly) every language. Usually offered every year.

NEJS 10a Biblical Hebrew Grammar and Texts
[ dl fl hum ]

Prerequisite: HBRW 20b or the equivalent as determined by placement examination.

An accelerated grammar course in Biblical Hebrew. Students engage with biblical Hebrew texts from the first class. They build from words and phrases to a literary translation and grammatical analysis of a student’s choice of biblical Hebrew narrative. Topics include: phonology and the Tiberian pronunciation tradition, syllables and stress patterns, nouns, articles, conjunctions, pronouns, adjectives, possession, prepositions, the prefix and suffix conjugations, derived stems, tense and aspect, volitives, infinitives, and irregular roots. The class uses music and digital tools to aid memorization. It builds students’ vocabularies and understanding of the unusual features of biblical grammar and syntax compared with other semitic languages and modern Hebrew.

NEJS 107a Biblical Prophecy
[ hum ]

Studies ancient Israel and Judah’s early prophetic literature in translation, focusing on prophecy's ancient Assyrian context and the books of Isaiah, Hosea, Amos, and Nahum. Usually offered every third year.

NEJS 173a Trauma and Violence in Israeli Literature and Film
[ deis-us djw fl hum oc ]

Taught in Hebrew.

Explores trauma and violence in Israeli Literature, film, and art. Focuses on man-made disasters, war and terrorism, sexual and family violence, and murder and suicide, and examines their relation to nationalism, Zionism, gender, and sexual identity. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 174a Minorities and Others in Israeli Literature and Culture
[ djw fl hum ]

Taught in Hebrew.

An exploration of poetics and identity in modern Hebrew literature. By offering a feminist and psychoanalytic reading of various Hebrew texts, this seminar explores questions of personal and national identity, otherness, visibility, and marginality in the Israeli context. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 174b Israeli Women Writers on War and Peace
[ deis-us djw fl hum oc ]

Taught in Hebrew.

An exploration of nationalism and gender in Modern Hebrew literature. By discussing various Hebrew texts and Israeli works of art and film, this course explores women's relationship to Zionism, war, peace, the state, politics, and processes of cultural production. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 176b Jewish Graphic Novels
[ hum ]

Examines the complex genre of the Jewish graphic novel. Explores Jewish artists' use of graphic narratives to grapple with issues of acculturation, trauma, and identity. Special focus on the reconfiguration of Jewish gender identities. Structured around primary texts. Secondary readings provide historical context and theoretical analysis. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 178a Love, Sex, and Power in Israeli Culture
[ djw fl hum ]

Taught in Hebrew. May be repeated for credit.

Explores questions of romance, gender, marriage, and jealousy in the Israeli context by offering a feminist and psychoanalytic reading of Hebrew texts, works of art, and film. Usually offered every third year.

HRNS 350a Jewish Professional Leadership Seminar on Israel

Required core course for all Hornstein students. Yields half-course credit.

Examines contemporary issues in Israeli society and its relationship with Diaspora communities. Course begins with on-campus sessions and culminates in Israel. Usually offered every year.

NEJS 130b Denial and Desires: Gender and Sexuality in Early Christianity
[ hum wi ]

Formerly offered as NEJS 218a.

Investigates how Christians (1st-4th C.) contested and reshaped attitudes toward the family gender expectations (for nonbinary persons, men, and women), sexuality, and aging in cities, the countryside, and in monasteries. Readings include the New Testament, early Christian literature, and modern studies regarding the body, sexuality, and theological frameworks for defining how to maintain the Christian body. Usually offered every fourth year.
Darlene Brooks Hedstrom

NEJS 141b Human Rights: Law, Politics, Theology
[ hum ]

How did human rights work arise in recent decades, and why only then? Is it a new sort of religion? What critical thinking will help this vast work of advocacy, international law, democratization and humanitarianism alleviate human suffering? Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 145a History of the State of Israel
[ hum ]

Examines the development of the State of Israel from its foundation to the present time. Israel's politics, society, and culture will be thematically analyzed. Usually offered every year.

NEJS 154b Zionism, Israel, and the Reshaping of Jewish Identity
[ hum ]

Explores the relations between pluralism, religious resurgence, secularism and democracy in our time through readings in history, literature, philosophy, sociology, theology and law. Focuses on one fascinating, contentious and deeply consequential place: The State of Israel. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 173a Trauma and Violence in Israeli Literature and Film
[ deis-us djw fl hum oc ]

Taught in Hebrew.

Explores trauma and violence in Israeli Literature, film, and art. Focuses on man-made disasters, war and terrorism, sexual and family violence, and murder and suicide, and examines their relation to nationalism, Zionism, gender, and sexual identity. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 174a Minorities and Others in Israeli Literature and Culture
[ djw fl hum ]

Taught in Hebrew.

An exploration of poetics and identity in modern Hebrew literature. By offering a feminist and psychoanalytic reading of various Hebrew texts, this seminar explores questions of personal and national identity, otherness, visibility, and marginality in the Israeli context. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 174b Israeli Women Writers on War and Peace
[ deis-us djw fl hum oc ]

Taught in Hebrew.

An exploration of nationalism and gender in Modern Hebrew literature. By discussing various Hebrew texts and Israeli works of art and film, this course explores women's relationship to Zionism, war, peace, the state, politics, and processes of cultural production. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 177a The Holocaust in Israeli and Jewish Literature
[ hum ]

Taught in English.

A broad survey of Holocaust writings in Modern Jewish literature. Examines the psychological, social, moral, and aesthetic challenges involved in representing the Holocaust in Israeli, American, and European context through literary texts, theoretical research, works of art, and film. Usually offered every third year.

NEJS 178a Love, Sex, and Power in Israeli Culture
[ djw fl hum ]

Taught in Hebrew. May be repeated for credit.

Explores questions of romance, gender, marriage, and jealousy in the Israeli context by offering a feminist and psychoanalytic reading of Hebrew texts, works of art, and film. Usually offered every third year.

NEJS 180b Israeli Film, Literature, and Culture
[ deis-us djw hum ]

Taught in English.

Surveys the development of Israeli literature and culture over the past 100 years and includes selections of poetry and prose from a wide range of writers. The course aims to illuminate what makes Hebrew literature distinct as well as investigate the themes, symbols, and subject matter that have come to constitute its central concerns since the early 20th century. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 184b Disability Cultures: Art, Film and Literature of People with Disabilities
[ deis-us djw hum oc ]

Explores cultural representations of disability in Israel, Europe, and the US. By focusing on literature, film, dance, and visual art, it explores physical, mental, and emotional disability experiences, and their relations to gender, sexuality, nationalism, and identity politics. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 189a The Arab-Israeli Conflict
[ hum ss ]

Consideration of Arab-Jewish relations, attitudes, and interactions from 1880 to the present. Emphasis on social factors and intellectual currents and their impact on politics. Examines the conflict within its international setting. Usually offered every third year.

NEJS 189b Formative Moments in the Disputed Land of Israel-Palestine
[ djw hum ]

Examines the history of Israel/Palestine during the 20th century by focusing on several formative moments that took place pre and post 1948. It reexamines key issues that emerged around each of those events and explores the implications they had on the formation of Israeli and Palestinian societies. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 196a Cultural Contact Zones in Israel-Palestine
[ djw hum ]

Explores the different ways in which boundaries have been constructed and imagined in the cultural scene in Israel/Palestine from the beginning of the 20th century to the present. It traces different cultural arenas that emerged during this period using examples from literature, cinema, music and visual arts – exploring the Hebrew-Arabic contact zones, religious and secular borderlands, the national divide between Jews and Arabs, and the fluid borderland across the gender divide. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 5a How Did Biblical Judaism Evolve into Modern Judaism?
[ hum ]

A survey of the Jewish experience and thought, focusing on the varieties of historical Judaism, including its classical forms, its medieval patterns and transformations, and its modern options. Usually offered every year.

NEJS 6a Jewish History: From Ancient to Modern Worlds
[ hum nw ]

Surveys ideas, institutions, practices and events central to critical approaches to the Jewish past and present. Dynamic processes of cross-fertilization, and contestation between Jews and their surroundings societies will be looked, as well as tradition and change, continuity and rupture. No background in the subject matter is required. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 123b Gender, Species, and Ethnicity in Early Judaism
[ djw hum oc ]

Being "human" is defined by distinguishing between and ordering different beings according to race, gender, disability and species. This privileges some in society while diminishing the value of others. This course introduces the main texts of rabbinic literature around fundamental questions of what is a legal "person" and what is not. Usually offered every year.

NEJS 124b Divinity, Difference and Desire: An Introduction to Jewish Mysticism
[ hum ]

A study of Jewish mysticism through history. While investigating the nature of mysticism and the idea of mysticism itself and the transformation of key motifs of Judaism into a mystical key, the course will also be concerned with how to read a Jewish mystical text. All readings are in English. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 127a Second Temple and Rabbinic Judaism
[ hum ]

A survey course of the Second Temple and rabbinic periods focusing on the Bible, the Apocrypha, the Pseudepigrapha, the Dead Sea Scrolls, the writing of Josephus and Philo, the Mishnah, Talmud, and Midrash. Usually offered every third year.

NEJS 140b Gender, Ghettos, and the Geographies of Early Modern Jews
[ hum ]

Examines Jewish history and culture in early modern Europe: mass conversions on the Iberian peninsula, migrations, reconversions back to Judaism, the printing revolution, the Reformation and Counter Reformation, ghettos, gender, family, everyday life, material culture, communal structure, rabbinical culture, mysticism, magic, science, messianic movements, Hasidism, mercantilism, and early modern challenges to Judaism.

NEJS 160a Jewish Feminisms
[ deis-us hum ]

Examines the role of Jewish women in the broader feminist movement and the impact of feminist theory and activism on Jewish thought, law, ritual practice and communal norms in the 20th and 21st century. We will explore classic feminist critiques and transformations of traditional Judaism and examine contemporary controversies involving issues such as equality under Jewish ritual and family law, sex segregation in public life, inclusion of Jewish People of Color and of LGBTQ Jews and antisemitism in the women's movement. Usually offered every year.

NEJS 169b From Sunday Schools to Birthright: History of American Jewish Education
[ hum ]

Empowers students to articulate a reality-based, transformative vision of Jewish education that is grounded in an appreciation for the history and sociology of American Jewish education. It will familiarize students with and contextualize the present Jewish educational landscape, through the use of historical case studies and current research, encouraging students to view the field from an evolutionary perspective. The seminar will address Jewish education in all its forms, including formal and informal settings (e.g., schools, camps, youth groups, educational tourism). Usually offered every third year.

NEJS 173a Trauma and Violence in Israeli Literature and Film
[ deis-us djw fl hum oc ]

Taught in Hebrew.

Explores trauma and violence in Israeli Literature, film, and art. Focuses on man-made disasters, war and terrorism, sexual and family violence, and murder and suicide, and examines their relation to nationalism, Zionism, gender, and sexual identity. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 184b Disability Cultures: Art, Film and Literature of People with Disabilities
[ deis-us djw hum oc ]

Explores cultural representations of disability in Israel, Europe, and the US. By focusing on literature, film, dance, and visual art, it explores physical, mental, and emotional disability experiences, and their relations to gender, sexuality, nationalism, and identity politics. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 174a Minorities and Others in Israeli Literature and Culture
[ djw fl hum ]

Taught in Hebrew.

An exploration of poetics and identity in modern Hebrew literature. By offering a feminist and psychoanalytic reading of various Hebrew texts, this seminar explores questions of personal and national identity, otherness, visibility, and marginality in the Israeli context. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 174b Israeli Women Writers on War and Peace
[ deis-us djw fl hum oc ]

Taught in Hebrew.

An exploration of nationalism and gender in Modern Hebrew literature. By discussing various Hebrew texts and Israeli works of art and film, this course explores women's relationship to Zionism, war, peace, the state, politics, and processes of cultural production. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 178a Love, Sex, and Power in Israeli Culture
[ djw fl hum ]

Taught in Hebrew. May be repeated for credit.

Explores questions of romance, gender, marriage, and jealousy in the Israeli context by offering a feminist and psychoanalytic reading of Hebrew texts, works of art, and film. Usually offered every third year.

HIST 134b The Ottoman Empire: From Principality to Republic by way of Empire
[ ss ]

Starting around the year 1300, the Ottomans grew from a tiny principality into a global Islamic empire by 1550, and in 1923 transformed into the modern Republic of Turkey. Ottoman history is the history of southeastern Europe, Anatolia, the Middle East, and most of North Africa. This course explores the arc of this 600-year history as it considers what enabled the Ottomans to emerge and flourish, as well as the processes that eventually tore the empire apart. By the end of the course, students will appreciate Ottoman legacies to politics, economics, culture, art, language, and food that are local, regional and global, with a direct influence on over two dozen modern nations. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 3a Religions of Abraham: Judaism, Christianity, Islam
[ hum ]

An introduction to the three major religions originating in the Near East: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Areas of focus include historical development, sacred texts, rituals, and interpretive traditions. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 134a Debating Religion: Muslims, Christians, and Jews in Dialogue and Dispute
[ hum ]

A history of interreligious polemic, disputation, and dialogue among Jews, Christians, and Muslims from antiquity to modernity. The course highlights points of difference and contention among the traditions as well as the ways in which the practice of disputation played a formative role in the coevolution of those traditions. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 144a Jews in the World of Islam
[ hum nw ]

Examines social and cultural history of Jewish communities in the Islamic world. Special emphasis is placed on the pre-modern Jewish communities. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 155a Maimonides: A Jewish Thinker in the Islamic World
[ hum ]

A study of the life, world, and thought of Moses Maimonides, the most significant Jewish intellectual of the Islamic world. This course traces his intellectual output in philosophy and Judaism, from its beginning in Islamic Spain to the mature works produced in Morocco and Egypt, in the context of the Arabic-Islamic milieu. Half of the course is dedicated to studying his Guide of the Perplexed, a Judeo-Arabic work that engages the demands of revealed religion and philosophical rationalism. Usually offered every third year.

NEJS 186a Introduction to the Qur'an
[ djw dl hum nw ]

Traces the history of the Qur'an as text, its exegesis, and its role in inter-religious polemics, law, theology, and politics. Examines the role of the Qur'an in Islamic teachings and its global impact. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 191a Biblical Narratives in the Qur'an
[ hum ]

The Qur'an tells versions of stories known from the Hebrew Bible, New Testament, and post-biblical Jewish and Christian literature. Compares the Qur'anic renditions with those circulating in the Near East with a focus on major characters (Abraham, Moses, Jesus, Mary, etc.). Usually offered every third year.

NEJS 194b Sufism: Mystical Traditions in Classical and Modern Islam
[ hum nw ]

An examination of the teaching and practices of the Sufi tradition. Explores the foundations of Sufism, its relation to other aspects of Islam, the development of Sufi teachings in both poetry and prose, and the manner in which Sufism is practiced in lands as diverse as Egypt, Turkey, Iran, India, Malaysia, and Europe. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 195b Early Islamic History from Muhammad to the Mongols
[ hum nw ]

Introduces Islamic history from the birth of Islam in the 7th century to the Mongol invasions of the 13th century. Students will examine trends in political, social, and intellectual history, focusing on three main periods; Islamic Origins, The High Caliphate, and Fragmentation/Efflorescence. Readings will include primary sources in translation, as well as academic analyses from traditional, critical, and revisionist perspectives. Usually offered every second year.

ANTH 118b Culture and Power in the Middle East
[ ss ]

Examines the peoples and societies of the Middle East from an anthropological perspective. Explores problems of cross-cultural examination, the notion of the Middle East as an area of study, and the role of anthropology in the formation of the idea of the 'Middle East.' To this end, the course is divided into sections devoted to understanding and problematizing key concepts and themes central to our understanding of the region, including tribe and state, family and kinship, gender and sexuality, honor and shame, tradition and modernity, and religion and secularism. Course materials will include critical ethnographies based on field work in the region as well as locally produced materials such as literature, music, film and other visual arts. Usually offered every fourth year.

ANTH 120b Ecology and Society in the Middle East and the Arabian Peninsula
[ ss ]

Examines how humans interact with the world around them. The course covers the main theories of the relationship between ecology and society, and explores issues related to the environment and agriculture in the Middle East, with a focus on the Arabian Peninsula. Usually offered every third year.

ANTH 141a Islamic Movements
[ ss ]

Examines the social and cultural dimensions of contemporary Islamic movements from an anthropological perspective. It starts by critically engaging with such fundamental concepts as Orientalism, colonialism, and nationalism. Topics to be discussed include the difference between the Muslim Brotherhood and Salafism, Islamist feminism, Islamic public arguments, Al-Qaeda and ISIS, victimization and martyrdom, and the relationship between humanitarianism and terrorism. Usually offered every second year.

FA 33b Islamic Art and Architecture
[ ca djw nw ]

Through case studies of cities, sites, and monuments, the course presents an overview of the art and the architecture of the Islamic world beginning from the seventh century up to the present. Some of the themes include, but are not limited to, Islamic material culture, orientalist imaginations, systems of governance and the colonial present, search for the local identity, urban modernity and nationalism, and globalization. Usually offered every second year.

HBRW 146a The Voices of Jerusalem
[ djw fl hum wi ]

Prerequisite: Any 30-level Hebrew course or permission of the instructor.

For advanced-intermediate students who wish to enhance their language proficiency and work toward improving fluency and communication through analysis of selected materials covering literature, poetry, history, politics, and art that depict the unique tradition and culture of Jerusalem. Usually offered every fall.

HIST 111b The Iranian Revolution in Global Context
[ djw dl nw ss ]

The 1979 revolution in Iran was the last great revolution of the 20th century that reverberates until today. We examine the roots of that revolution, and the nature of the state and society that resulted from it within a broader global context. The first two units focus on pre-revolutionary and revolutionary Iran, particularly the 1960s and 1970s, examining national and global forces that laid the groundwork for the 1979 revolution.  We also analyze the multiple narratives of the revolution itself—as an Islamic movement, an anti-monarchical movement, and an anti-imperialist movement. In the final unit, we look at some of the characteristics of the Islamic Republic and the global tensions that have resulted from its specific historical development. Usually offered every second year.

HIST 135b Get Up, Stand Up: A Century of Revolutions in the Middle East
[ djw nw oc ss ]

An examination of the various revolutions that have shaped the modern Middle East since the late 19th century. The course focuses on four different revolutionary moments: The constitutional revolutions of the turn of the century, the anti-colonial revolutions of mid-century, the radical revolutions of the 1970's, and most recently, the Arab Spring revolutions that have affected the region since 2011. Usually offered every second year.

HIST 185b Turkey: From Ataturk to Erdogan
[ djw ss ]

Examines the history of the Turkish Republic, from its founding in the wake of World War I until the beginning of the 21st century. Through discussions of politics, economics, society and culture, the course studies the forces that shaped and reshaped Turkey. Like the Ottoman Empire from which it emerged, Turkey has attracted the attention of admirers and detractors alike. Meanwhile, it has played key roles and continues to be an important economic, political and cultural hub in the Middle East, Europe, Asia, and the world. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 157b Arab-Jewish Modern Thought and Culture
[ djw hum ]

Against the backdrop of the partition of the 'Jew' from the 'Arab' in the modern national era, this course focuses on the Arab-Jewish borderland cultural world which simultaneously embodies Arab and Jewish histories, traditions, and identities. It traces different manifestations of Arab-Jewish culture from the early 20th century to today and explores the complex relationship between culture and politics in relation to questions of language, identity, nationality, borders, exile and memory. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 174a Minorities and Others in Israeli Literature and Culture
[ djw fl hum ]

Taught in Hebrew.

An exploration of poetics and identity in modern Hebrew literature. By offering a feminist and psychoanalytic reading of various Hebrew texts, this seminar explores questions of personal and national identity, otherness, visibility, and marginality in the Israeli context. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 189a The Arab-Israeli Conflict
[ hum ss ]

Consideration of Arab-Jewish relations, attitudes, and interactions from 1880 to the present. Emphasis on social factors and intellectual currents and their impact on politics. Examines the conflict within its international setting. Usually offered every third year.

NEJS 189b Formative Moments in the Disputed Land of Israel-Palestine
[ djw hum ]

Examines the history of Israel/Palestine during the 20th century by focusing on several formative moments that took place pre and post 1948. It reexamines key issues that emerged around each of those events and explores the implications they had on the formation of Israeli and Palestinian societies. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 196a Cultural Contact Zones in Israel-Palestine
[ djw hum ]

Explores the different ways in which boundaries have been constructed and imagined in the cultural scene in Israel/Palestine from the beginning of the 20th century to the present. It traces different cultural arenas that emerged during this period using examples from literature, cinema, music and visual arts – exploring the Hebrew-Arabic contact zones, religious and secular borderlands, the national divide between Jews and Arabs, and the fluid borderland across the gender divide. Usually offered every second year.

POL 164a Seminar: Conflict and Peacemaking in the Middle East
[ ss ]

Provides students with historical and analytic mastery of the Arab- Israeli conflict in a novel way. Through immersion in three competing narratives - Israeli, Palestinian, and pan-Arab - students will gain proficiency in the history of the conflict as well as analytic leverage on the possibility of its resolution. The course is organized as a seminar and is premised on active student participation. Usually offered every year.

REL 107a Introduction to World Religions
[ hum nw ]

An introduction to the study of religion; this core course surveys and broadly explores some of the major religions across the globe.

SAS 100a India and Pakistan: Understanding South Asia
[ djw hum nw ss ]

Examines the making and unmaking of modern South Asia as a region, with particular focus on India and Pakistan as well as their connections to Bangladesh, Nepal, and Sri Lanka. Using perspectives from history, politics, anthropology, literature, and film, the course introduces students to key themes in the study of South Asia, such as colonialism and anti-colonial struggles, legacies of empire, caste critique and Dalit thought, gender and sexuality, religion, and popular culture. Usually offered every year. Usually offered every year.

HBRW 121a Life Challenges and Post Trauma of an Israeli Family through a TV Series
[ fl oc ]

Prerequisite: Any 30-level Hebrew course or permission of the instructor.

An advanced-intermediate conversation course for students who wish to improve their speaking skills. Role playing, vocabulary building, and guided speaking activities develop conversational skills for various situations. Reading and discussion of contemporary texts, based on popular Israeli television series, assist in vocabulary building. Usually offered every year.

HBRW 121b Life Challenges of an Israeli Family through a TV Series
[ fl hum oc ]

Prerequisite: Any 30-level Hebrew course or permission of the instructor.

An advanced-intermediate conversation course for students who wish to improve their speaking skills. Role playing, vocabulary building, and guided speaking activities develop conversational skills for various situations. Reading and discussion of contemporary texts, based on the popular Israeli TV series, "Yellow Peppers", assist in vocabulary building. Usually offered every second year.

HBRW 144a Plays and Drama in Israeli Society
[ ca djw fl hum oc wi ]

Prerequisite: Any 30-level Hebrew course or permission of the instructor.

Focuses on critical reading and analysis of authentic and contemporary Israeli short plays and studying the comparison between plays in Israel and those in the U.S. We will examine theories in aspects of drama and implement drama techniques including improvisation, movement, and creative expression. Readings cover topics such as social diversity and justice, as well as human rights and awareness of world identities. The course culminates in the writing of an original scene or one-act play in Hebrew.

HBRW 146a The Voices of Jerusalem
[ djw fl hum wi ]

Prerequisite: Any 30-level Hebrew course or permission of the instructor.

For advanced-intermediate students who wish to enhance their language proficiency and work toward improving fluency and communication through analysis of selected materials covering literature, poetry, history, politics, and art that depict the unique tradition and culture of Jerusalem. Usually offered every fall.

HBRW 164b Israeli Theater Within the Framework of U.S Cultures
[ ca deis-us djw fl hum oc wi ]

Prerequisite: Any 30-level Hebrew course or permission of the instructor.

Promotes cultural awareness and global understanding through the reading and analysis of plays. Student creativity develops through participation in acting and creative writing assignments. Usually offered every second year.

HBRW 167b The Sleeping Beauty: The Revival of Modern Hebrew
[ dl fl hum ]

Prerequisite: Any 40-level Hebrew course or permission of the instructor.

An advanced course that surveys the origins of the Hebrew language and its development throughout the centuries, focusing on its major stages (biblical, rabbinic, medieval, and modern). Explores the unique phenomenon of its revival as a spoken language and its adaptation to the modern world. Usually offered every second year.

HBRW 170a Take I: Israeli Cinema and American Culture
[ deis-us djw fl hum wi ]

Prerequisite: Any 40-level Hebrew course or permission of the instructor.

Introduces students to various aspects of Israeli society as portrayed in Israeli films and television. In addition to viewing films, students will be asked to read Hebrew background materials, to participate in class discussions, and to write review and criticism about the films. The course prepares students to deepen their analytical skills in order to gain broader understanding and intercultural knowledge as well as transform their personal and global thinking. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 136a Israeli Popular Culture: Language, Gender, and Politics
[ hum ]

Ever wondered why Israeli television is all over Netflix, or why Sabra hummus came to dominate your supermarket shelves? In this course, we will examine multiple forms of popular culture, including television, music, cookbooks, social media, fashion, and more, to understand contemporary Israeli society, with a focus on debates over language, gender, and politics in a global context. Special attention will be paid to cultural production from Israel's minorities, including Israeli Palestinians, Orthodox Jews, and Mizrahim (Jews from Arab and Islamic lands.) Course readings will combine theory, primary sources, and popular criticism. No previous knowledge of Israel, Judaism, or the Middle East is required, and all materials will be provided in English translation. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 145a History of the State of Israel
[ hum ]

Examines the development of the State of Israel from its foundation to the present time. Israel's politics, society, and culture will be thematically analyzed. Usually offered every year.

NEJS 150b Israeli Civil Society: Diversity, Democracy, and Justice
[ djw hum ]

Civil society sustains democracy. It is where alternative futures are imagined, social boundaries are forged and contested, and identities are negotiated. As societies are becoming increasingly diverse and divided, and less stable and safe – civil society is where people organize, dream, and act. The Israeli civil society offers a fascinating case study for understanding the links between identity, organizations, and society. Through the Israeli context, we explore how national, ethnic, gender, cultural,  differences are constructed and managed in diverse and divided societies; understand how civic engagement shapes the future of democracy; and learn about the complexity and diversity of Jewish identity, in Israel and the diaspora. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 160b Legal Controversies in Israeli History
[ djw hum nw ]

Investigates Israeli history, politics, and culture through the lens of major legal controversies including the tension between "Jewish" and "democratic," the Shoah in Israeli history, the Occupied Territories, legislation of family life and religious practice and more. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 173a Trauma and Violence in Israeli Literature and Film
[ deis-us djw fl hum oc ]

Taught in Hebrew.

Explores trauma and violence in Israeli Literature, film, and art. Focuses on man-made disasters, war and terrorism, sexual and family violence, and murder and suicide, and examines their relation to nationalism, Zionism, gender, and sexual identity. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 174a Minorities and Others in Israeli Literature and Culture
[ djw fl hum ]

Taught in Hebrew.

An exploration of poetics and identity in modern Hebrew literature. By offering a feminist and psychoanalytic reading of various Hebrew texts, this seminar explores questions of personal and national identity, otherness, visibility, and marginality in the Israeli context. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 177a The Holocaust in Israeli and Jewish Literature
[ hum ]

Taught in English.

A broad survey of Holocaust writings in Modern Jewish literature. Examines the psychological, social, moral, and aesthetic challenges involved in representing the Holocaust in Israeli, American, and European context through literary texts, theoretical research, works of art, and film. Usually offered every third year.

NEJS 178a Love, Sex, and Power in Israeli Culture
[ djw fl hum ]

Taught in Hebrew. May be repeated for credit.

Explores questions of romance, gender, marriage, and jealousy in the Israeli context by offering a feminist and psychoanalytic reading of Hebrew texts, works of art, and film. Usually offered every third year.

NEJS 180b Israeli Film, Literature, and Culture
[ deis-us djw hum ]

Taught in English.

Surveys the development of Israeli literature and culture over the past 100 years and includes selections of poetry and prose from a wide range of writers. The course aims to illuminate what makes Hebrew literature distinct as well as investigate the themes, symbols, and subject matter that have come to constitute its central concerns since the early 20th century. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 189a The Arab-Israeli Conflict
[ hum ss ]

Consideration of Arab-Jewish relations, attitudes, and interactions from 1880 to the present. Emphasis on social factors and intellectual currents and their impact on politics. Examines the conflict within its international setting. Usually offered every third year.

NEJS 189b Formative Moments in the Disputed Land of Israel-Palestine
[ djw hum ]

Examines the history of Israel/Palestine during the 20th century by focusing on several formative moments that took place pre and post 1948. It reexamines key issues that emerged around each of those events and explores the implications they had on the formation of Israeli and Palestinian societies. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 236a Seminar on Modern Jewish and Israeli History and Historiography

Strongly recommended for all graduate students in Judaic studies.

Aims to introduce students to the emergence of history as an academic discipline in the nineteenth century and to provide some acquaintance with the classics of historical scholarship. It will also examine the emergence of Jewish historiography and analyze critically the works of the major Jewish historians. In addition, it will assess the contributions of the "new" historians to historical understanding and see how far their insights can aid in the study of key problems in Jewish history. Usually offered every second year.

POL 177b Seminar: National Security Strategy: The Case of Israel
[ ss ]

Examines key concepts in national security studies and illustrates their relevance and explanatory power by applying them to Israel's pursuit of national security. Evaluates the extent to which Israel's strategy is typical of small states attempting to withstand numerically superior neighbors. Usually offered every second year.

HBRW 167b The Sleeping Beauty: The Revival of Modern Hebrew
[ dl fl hum ]

Prerequisite: Any 40-level Hebrew course or permission of the instructor.

An advanced course that surveys the origins of the Hebrew language and its development throughout the centuries, focusing on its major stages (biblical, rabbinic, medieval, and modern). Explores the unique phenomenon of its revival as a spoken language and its adaptation to the modern world. Usually offered every second year.

HS 125a Contemporary Antisemitism

Designed to enable students to understand contemporary antisemitism and explore ways to address anti-Jewish hatred. Course content will be multidisciplinary, drawn from history, political science, social psychology, and sociology and social policy. Students will have a chance to collect/analyze their own data. Usually offered every year.

NEJS 5a How Did Biblical Judaism Evolve into Modern Judaism?
[ hum ]

A survey of the Jewish experience and thought, focusing on the varieties of historical Judaism, including its classical forms, its medieval patterns and transformations, and its modern options. Usually offered every year.

NEJS 6a Jewish History: From Ancient to Modern Worlds
[ hum nw ]

Surveys ideas, institutions, practices and events central to critical approaches to the Jewish past and present. Dynamic processes of cross-fertilization, and contestation between Jews and their surroundings societies will be looked, as well as tradition and change, continuity and rupture. No background in the subject matter is required. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 117a Antisemitism: An Intellectual History
[ hum ]

Engages a variety of accounts regarding the origins and developments of the elusive meanings of antisemitism from antiquity to the present. We will focus primarily on the generative tensions between hostile views and acts against Jews/Judaism and Jewish reactions to these phenomena. We will delve into the ever shifting, but often recurring, complex of terms, ideas, beliefs, myths, symbols, and tropes which fuel the antisemitic imagination and forms the reservoir for potential violent action. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 124b Divinity, Difference and Desire: An Introduction to Jewish Mysticism
[ hum ]

A study of Jewish mysticism through history. While investigating the nature of mysticism and the idea of mysticism itself and the transformation of key motifs of Judaism into a mystical key, the course will also be concerned with how to read a Jewish mystical text. All readings are in English. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 127b The History and Literature of the Jewish Liturgy
[ hum ]

Prerequisite: A 20-level Hebrew course or the equivalent.

A study of the literature, theology, and history of the daily and Sabbath liturgy. Emphasis will be placed on the interplay between literary structure and ideational content, along with discussion of the philosophical issues involved in prayer. Usually offered every third year.

NEJS 134a Debating Religion: Muslims, Christians, and Jews in Dialogue and Dispute
[ hum ]

A history of interreligious polemic, disputation, and dialogue among Jews, Christians, and Muslims from antiquity to modernity. The course highlights points of difference and contention among the traditions as well as the ways in which the practice of disputation played a formative role in the coevolution of those traditions. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 140b Gender, Ghettos, and the Geographies of Early Modern Jews
[ hum ]

Examines Jewish history and culture in early modern Europe: mass conversions on the Iberian peninsula, migrations, reconversions back to Judaism, the printing revolution, the Reformation and Counter Reformation, ghettos, gender, family, everyday life, material culture, communal structure, rabbinical culture, mysticism, magic, science, messianic movements, Hasidism, mercantilism, and early modern challenges to Judaism.

NEJS 141a Russian Jews in the Twentieth Century
[ hum ]

Examines Russian Jewish history from 1917 to the present. Focuses on the tsarist legacy, Russian Revolution, the creation of a new socialist society, development of Yiddish culture, the "Great Turn" under Stalin, Holocaust, post war Judaism, anti-Semitism, emigration, and current events. Usually offered every second year.
ChaeRan Freeze

NEJS 144a Jews in the World of Islam
[ hum nw ]

Examines social and cultural history of Jewish communities in the Islamic world. Special emphasis is placed on the pre-modern Jewish communities. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 145a History of the State of Israel
[ hum ]

Examines the development of the State of Israel from its foundation to the present time. Israel's politics, society, and culture will be thematically analyzed. Usually offered every year.

NEJS 150b Israeli Civil Society: Diversity, Democracy, and Justice
[ djw hum ]

Civil society sustains democracy. It is where alternative futures are imagined, social boundaries are forged and contested, and identities are negotiated. As societies are becoming increasingly diverse and divided, and less stable and safe – civil society is where people organize, dream, and act. The Israeli civil society offers a fascinating case study for understanding the links between identity, organizations, and society. Through the Israeli context, we explore how national, ethnic, gender, cultural,  differences are constructed and managed in diverse and divided societies; understand how civic engagement shapes the future of democracy; and learn about the complexity and diversity of Jewish identity, in Israel and the diaspora. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 154b Zionism, Israel, and the Reshaping of Jewish Identity
[ hum ]

Explores the relations between pluralism, religious resurgence, secularism and democracy in our time through readings in history, literature, philosophy, sociology, theology and law. Focuses on one fascinating, contentious and deeply consequential place: The State of Israel. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 157b Arab-Jewish Modern Thought and Culture
[ djw hum ]

Against the backdrop of the partition of the 'Jew' from the 'Arab' in the modern national era, this course focuses on the Arab-Jewish borderland cultural world which simultaneously embodies Arab and Jewish histories, traditions, and identities. It traces different manifestations of Arab-Jewish culture from the early 20th century to today and explores the complex relationship between culture and politics in relation to questions of language, identity, nationality, borders, exile and memory. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 159a Modern Jewish Philosophy
[ hum ]

Surveys the contours of modern Jewish philosophy by engaging some of its most important themes and voices, competing Jewish inflections of and responses to rationalism, romanticism, idealism, existentialism, and nihilism. This provides the conceptual road signs of the course as we traverse the winding byways of Jewish philosophy from Baruch Spinoza to Emanuel Levinas. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 164a Judaism Confronts America
[ hum wi ]

Examines, through a close reading of selected primary sources, central issues and tensions in American Jewish life, paying attention to their historical background and to issues of Jewish law. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 166a Carnal Israel: Exploring Jewish Sexuality from Talmudic Times to the Present
[ hum ]

Explores the construction of Jewish sexuality from Talmudic times to the present. Themes include rabbinic views of sex, niddah, illicit relations, masculinity, medieval erotic poetry, Ashkenazi and Sephardic sexual practices, and sexual symbolism in mystic literature; the discourse on sex, race, and nationalism in Europe; debates about masculinity, sexual orientation, and stereotypes in America and Israel. Usually offered every third year.

NEJS 181a Jews on Screen: From "Cohen's Fire Sale" to the Coen Brothers
[ hum ]

Open to all students.

Survey course focusing on moving images of Jews and Jewish life in fiction and factual films. Includes early Russian and American silents, home movies of European Jews, Yiddish feature films, Israeli cinema, independent films, and Hollywood classics. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 181b Film and the Holocaust
[ hum ]

Open to all students.

Examines the medium of film, propaganda, documentary, and narrative fiction relevant to the history of the Holocaust. The use of film to shape, justify, document, interpret, and imagine the Holocaust. Beginning with the films produced by the Third Reich, the course includes films produced immediately after the events, as well as contemporary feature films. The focus will be how the film medium, as a medium, works to (re)present meaning(s). Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 192b Power, Morality and Identity: Jewish Political Thought
[ hum ]

Though Jews were stateless for centuries, they had many political institutions and thought deeply about basic questions of politics, authority, ethics and power. In modernity, the age of emancipation, revolution, democracy, nationalism, Holocaust and Zionism, those ideas and institutions were put to new, shattering tests. All readings are in English with a HEBREW option for those who would like. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 247b The Craft of Holocaust Research: Questions, Sources, Interpretations, and Debates

Provides an introduction to the emergence and development of Holocaust studies as an academic discipline. It will acquaint students with the main questions and sources of the historical scholarship and teach them to critically analyze the works of the major historians of the Holocaust. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 259a Renaissance, Revolution, Redemption: Readings in Early Zionist Thought

Explores the writings of a fascinating group of figures - including Bialik, Brenner, Gordon, Kook Rachel - poised on the cusp of traditional Jewish society and the nascent Zionist revolution. They explored the dilemmas of Jewish identity and modern politics and philosophy with great literary power and intellectual intensity. Usually offered every third year.

ANTH 118b Culture and Power in the Middle East
[ ss ]

Examines the peoples and societies of the Middle East from an anthropological perspective. Explores problems of cross-cultural examination, the notion of the Middle East as an area of study, and the role of anthropology in the formation of the idea of the 'Middle East.' To this end, the course is divided into sections devoted to understanding and problematizing key concepts and themes central to our understanding of the region, including tribe and state, family and kinship, gender and sexuality, honor and shame, tradition and modernity, and religion and secularism. Course materials will include critical ethnographies based on field work in the region as well as locally produced materials such as literature, music, film and other visual arts. Usually offered every fourth year.

ANTH 141a Islamic Movements
[ ss ]

Examines the social and cultural dimensions of contemporary Islamic movements from an anthropological perspective. It starts by critically engaging with such fundamental concepts as Orientalism, colonialism, and nationalism. Topics to be discussed include the difference between the Muslim Brotherhood and Salafism, Islamist feminism, Islamic public arguments, Al-Qaeda and ISIS, victimization and martyrdom, and the relationship between humanitarianism and terrorism. Usually offered every second year.

ECON 122b The Economics of the Middle East
[ nw ss ]

Prerequisite: ECON 2a or ECON 10a or the equivalent. Does not count toward the upper-level elective requirement for the major in economics.

Examines the Middle East economies ' past experiences, present situation, and future challenges ' drawing on theories, policy formulations and empirical studies of economic growth, trade, poverty, income distribution, labor markets, finance and banking, government reforms, globalization, and Arab-Israeli political economy. Usually offered every year.

FA 33b Islamic Art and Architecture
[ ca djw nw ]

Through case studies of cities, sites, and monuments, the course presents an overview of the art and the architecture of the Islamic world beginning from the seventh century up to the present. Some of the themes include, but are not limited to, Islamic material culture, orientalist imaginations, systems of governance and the colonial present, search for the local identity, urban modernity and nationalism, and globalization. Usually offered every second year.

HIST 111b The Iranian Revolution in Global Context
[ djw dl nw ss ]

The 1979 revolution in Iran was the last great revolution of the 20th century that reverberates until today. We examine the roots of that revolution, and the nature of the state and society that resulted from it within a broader global context. The first two units focus on pre-revolutionary and revolutionary Iran, particularly the 1960s and 1970s, examining national and global forces that laid the groundwork for the 1979 revolution.  We also analyze the multiple narratives of the revolution itself—as an Islamic movement, an anti-monarchical movement, and an anti-imperialist movement. In the final unit, we look at some of the characteristics of the Islamic Republic and the global tensions that have resulted from its specific historical development. Usually offered every second year.

HIST 134b The Ottoman Empire: From Principality to Republic by way of Empire
[ ss ]

Starting around the year 1300, the Ottomans grew from a tiny principality into a global Islamic empire by 1550, and in 1923 transformed into the modern Republic of Turkey. Ottoman history is the history of southeastern Europe, Anatolia, the Middle East, and most of North Africa. This course explores the arc of this 600-year history as it considers what enabled the Ottomans to emerge and flourish, as well as the processes that eventually tore the empire apart. By the end of the course, students will appreciate Ottoman legacies to politics, economics, culture, art, language, and food that are local, regional and global, with a direct influence on over two dozen modern nations. Usually offered every second year.

HIST 135b Get Up, Stand Up: A Century of Revolutions in the Middle East
[ djw nw oc ss ]

An examination of the various revolutions that have shaped the modern Middle East since the late 19th century. The course focuses on four different revolutionary moments: The constitutional revolutions of the turn of the century, the anti-colonial revolutions of mid-century, the radical revolutions of the 1970's, and most recently, the Arab Spring revolutions that have affected the region since 2011. Usually offered every second year.

HIST 185b Turkey: From Ataturk to Erdogan
[ djw ss ]

Examines the history of the Turkish Republic, from its founding in the wake of World War I until the beginning of the 21st century. Through discussions of politics, economics, society and culture, the course studies the forces that shaped and reshaped Turkey. Like the Ottoman Empire from which it emerged, Turkey has attracted the attention of admirers and detractors alike. Meanwhile, it has played key roles and continues to be an important economic, political and cultural hub in the Middle East, Europe, Asia, and the world. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 104b Islam: Civilization and Institutions
[ hum nw ]

Provides a disciplined study of Islamic civilization from its origins to the modern period. Approaches the study from a humanities perspective. Topics covered will include the Qur'an, tradition, law, theology, politics, Islam and other religions, modern developments, and women in Islam. Usually offered every year.

NEJS 144a Jews in the World of Islam
[ hum nw ]

Examines social and cultural history of Jewish communities in the Islamic world. Special emphasis is placed on the pre-modern Jewish communities. Usually offered every second year.

POL 164a Seminar: Conflict and Peacemaking in the Middle East
[ ss ]

Provides students with historical and analytic mastery of the Arab- Israeli conflict in a novel way. Through immersion in three competing narratives - Israeli, Palestinian, and pan-Arab - students will gain proficiency in the history of the conflict as well as analytic leverage on the possibility of its resolution. The course is organized as a seminar and is premised on active student participation. Usually offered every year.

AAAS/ENG 141b Critical Race Theory
[ hum ]

Traces an intellectual and political history of critical race theory that begins in law classrooms in the 1980s and continues in the 21st century activist strategies of Black Lives Matter movement. We proceed by reading defining theoretical texts alongside African American literature of the 20th and 21st centuries. Usually offered every third year.

AAAS/WGS 121a Black Visibility
[ deis-us ss ]

Drawing on theories of the Black gaze rooted in both Black feminist visual culture (Tina Campt, bell hooks, Nicole Fleetwood) and surveillance studies (Simone Browne, Kelly Ross), this interdisciplinary course pairs a discussion of histories of anti-Black social control with an emphasis on Black reclamations of the visual field in modalities including popular film, social media, performance art, and literature. Students will emerge with a deepened understanding of how linked formations of Blackness, gender, and sexuality shape ways of seeing in American culture, and how different Black women, gender-expansive, and queer folx negotiate these formations with their art. Usually offered every year.

AAAS/WGS 136a Black Feminist Thought
[ deis-us oc ss ]

Formerly offered as AAAS 136a.

Critical examination of the historical, political, economic, and ideological factors that have shaped the lives of African-American women in the United States. Analyzing foundation theoretical texts, fiction, and film over two centuries, this class seeks to understand black women's writing and political activism in the U.S. Usually offered every second year.

ANTH 80a Anthropology of Religion
[ nw ss ]

Introduces the anthropological study of religious experience and practices across diverse contexts. Studies rituals, from initiation to conversion to pilgrimage, and examines the relationship between religion, society, and politics in a variety of societies. Usually offered every second year.

ANTH 113b Race and Ethnicity: Anthropological Perspectives
[ ss ]

Examines theories and ethnographies of race and ethnicity through three units: literary and social scientific theories of race and othering; the race system in the U.S. today; and a comparative look at the American racial system to explore ways in which America's race system varies cross-societally and cross-historically. One goal of the course is to understand changing ideas of race and ethnicity that have emerged from anthropologists and cultural critics. Usually offered every fourth year.

ANTH 140a Human Rights in Global Perspective
[ djw ss wi ]

Explores a range of debates about human rights as a concept as well as the practice of human rights work. The human rights movement seeks the recognition of universal norms that transcend political and cultural difference while anthropology seeks to explore and analyze the great diversity of human life. To what extent can these two goals--advocating for universal norms and respecting cultural difference--be reconciled? The course examines cases from various parts of the world concerning: indigenous peoples, environment, health, gender, genocide/violence/nation-states and globalization. Usually offered every third year.

ANTH 144a The Anthropology of Gender
[ djw nw ss wi ]

Anthropology majors have priority for enrollment.

Explores gender, sexuality, and cultural systems from a comparative perspective. Topics may include rituals of masculinity and femininity, the vexing question of the universality of women's subordination, culturally-specific classifications of sexual orientation and gender identity, transnational feminisms, sex work, migrant labor, reproductive rights, and much more. Usually offered every year.

ANTH 156a Power and Violence: The Anthropology of Political Systems
[ deis-us dl nw ss ]

Political orders are established and maintained by varying combinations of overt violence and the more subtle workings of ideas. The course examines the relationship of coercion and consensus, and forms of resistance, in historical and contemporary settings. Usually offered every second year.

CLAS 118b Archaeology of the Holy Land
[ hum ]

For archaeology in Israel, the material remains of the past represent a fundamental aspect of people’s identities and conception of place. In this course, we will survey the archaeological evidence for the development of complex society in the Neolithic through the hegemony of the Romans and the transition into the Byzantine Empire. Over this long era, figures larger than life made history here: King Solomon, Judah Maccabee, Herod the Great, and Constantine, among others. Their stories are set in time but also transcend it, and the land in which they lived was itself transformed from mere geography to the Holy Land. We will address the modern scholars who have conducted archaeological studies from the early days of Biblical Archaeology to the present situation that fosters some of the most interdisciplinary archaeological research in the world. Our focus will be on the study of sites and remains that archaeologists have recovered, consider the relationship of physical remains and written accounts, and learn how material evidence in its varied forms of architecture, art, ceramics, and other objects, helps us better understand ancient life. Discussions will also include recent debates about the future of the discipline and issues of cultural heritage and public history. Usually offered every third year.

ECON 69a The Economics of Race and Gender
[ deis-us ss ]

Prerequisite: ECON 2a or ECON 10a.

The role of race and gender in economic decision making. Mainstream and alternative economic explanations for discrimination, and analysis of the economic status of women and minorities. Discussion of specific public policies related to race, class, and gender. Usually offered every second year.

ENG 151a Queer Studies
[ hum ]

Recommended preparation: An introductory course in gender/sexuality and/or a course in critical theory.

Historical, literary, and theoretical perspectives on the construction and performance of queer subjectivities. How do queer bodies and queer representations challenge heteronormativity? How might we imagine public spaces and queer citizenship? Usually offered every second year.

HIST 188b The Varieties of Religious Experience, 1350-1900
[ ss ]

How do you talk about religion after Darwin, when science has replaced religion as the authoritative discourse, but most people everywhere adhere to some sort of religious belief? By reading together The Varieties of Religious experience (1902) by William James. Usually offered every third year.

HSSP 192b Sociology of Disability
[ ss ]

In the latter half of the twentieth century, disability has emerged as an important social-political-economic-medical issue, with its own distinct history, characterized as a shift from "good will to civil rights." Traces that history and the way people with disabilities are seen and unseen, and see themselves. Usually offered every year.
Steve Gulley

NEJS 128b Gender, Multiculturalism, and the Law
[ hum wi ]

May not be taken for credit by students who took PHIL 128a in prior years.

Can the state determine what children must learn in schools run by religious minorities? Should the state intervene to prevent forced or underage marriage if these practices are based on religious traditions? Can the state accommodate religiously-based demands to provide separate but equal public services to men and women, in prayer, on public transportation or at universities? These are some of the issues we will explore in this class through reading texts in law, political philosophy and modern Jewish thought. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 141b Human Rights: Law, Politics, Theology
[ hum ]

How did human rights work arise in recent decades, and why only then? Is it a new sort of religion? What critical thinking will help this vast work of advocacy, international law, democratization and humanitarianism alleviate human suffering? Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 160a Jewish Feminisms
[ deis-us hum ]

Examines the role of Jewish women in the broader feminist movement and the impact of feminist theory and activism on Jewish thought, law, ritual practice and communal norms in the 20th and 21st century. We will explore classic feminist critiques and transformations of traditional Judaism and examine contemporary controversies involving issues such as equality under Jewish ritual and family law, sex segregation in public life, inclusion of Jewish People of Color and of LGBTQ Jews and antisemitism in the women's movement. Usually offered every year.

NEJS 184b Disability Cultures: Art, Film and Literature of People with Disabilities
[ deis-us djw hum oc ]

Explores cultural representations of disability in Israel, Europe, and the US. By focusing on literature, film, dance, and visual art, it explores physical, mental, and emotional disability experiences, and their relations to gender, sexuality, nationalism, and identity politics. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS/WGS 110a Sexual Violence in Film and Culture
[ deis-us djw hum oc ]

Explores the effects of sexualized violence in society. While exploring representations of gender-based sexual violence in documentaries and features, stand-up comedy, memoirs, poetry, and visual art, this course will offer a critical discussion on Rape Culture in the 21st century, with particular attention to the intersections of gender, race, sexuality, class, and disability in the construction of sexual violence. Usually offered every second year.

PHIL 128b Philosophy of Race and Gender
[ deis-us hum ]

Explores the nature of racism and gender oppression, as well as various remedies to them, including reparations, affirmative action, and policies of group representation at the state level. Usually offered every second year.

SOC 127a Religion, Ethnicity, and Nationalism
[ nw oc ss ]

Examines three sources of identity that are influential in global affairs: religion, ethnicity and nationalism. Considers theories of the relationship among these identities, especially "secularization theory," then reviews historical examples such as Poland, Iran, India, and Pakistan. Usually offered every second year.

SOC 129a Sociology of Religion
[ deis-us ss ]

An introduction to the sociological study of religion. Investigates what religion is, how it is influential in contemporary American life, and how the boundaries of public and private religion are constructed and contested. Usually offered every year.

SOC 146b Nationalism and Globalization
[ ss wi ]

In an age of globalization, why does nationalism thrive? Are globalization and nationalism rivals, strangers or possibly partners? Students will trace the emergence of nationalism while also examining globalization's impact on societies such as the United States, Russia, China, and India. Usually offered every second year.

WGS 5a Women, Genders, and Sexualities
[ deis-us dl oc ss ]

This interdisciplinary course introduces central concepts and topics in the field of women's, gender, and sexuality studies. Explores the position of women and other genders in diverse settings and the impact of gender as a social, cultural, and intellectual category in the United States and around the globe. Asks how gendered institutions, behaviors, and representations have been configured in the past and function in the present, and also examines the ways in which gender and sexuality intersect with many other vectors of identity and circumstance in forming human affairs. Usually offered every fall.

WGS 6b Sexuality and Queer Studies
[ djw dl hum ss ]

May not be taken for credit by students who took SQS 6b in prior years.

Examines cross-cultural and historical perspectives on sexual meanings, experiences, representations, and activist movements within a framework forged by contemporary critical theories of gender and sexuality. Usually offered every year.

WGS 105b Feminisms: History, Theory, and Practice
[ deis-us oc ss ]

Prerequisite: Students are encouraged, though not required, to take WGS 5a prior to enrolling in this course.

Examines diverse theories of sex and gender within a multicultural framework, considering historical changes in feminist thought, the theoretical underpinnings of various feminist practices, and the implications of diverse and often conflicting theories for both academic inquiry and social change. Usually offered every year.

WGS 171a Transgender Studies
[ deis-us ss ]

Introduces students to key terms and debate in the field of transgender studies, while critically interrogating how ideologies of race, class, gender, and sexuality have informed the category's rapid institutionalization. Usually offered every year.